


Lost and Found

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Remember Me [18]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:44:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3727615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Dragon Slayers' children disappear, it falls on Laxus' shoulders to get them back. Mainly because, well...it was his father who took them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"No."

The eight year old blink. "Huh?"

"No," Laxus repeated, continuing to stare down at the paper in front of him. It was a letter from a recent job requester who, while thankful, was a little distraught at the ruin that her town now sat in after being rescued by none other than Team Natsu. Keeping his breathing in check, Laxus sat the letter aside before glancing at his daughter, who was standing at the side of the table he was seated at, some of her friends gathered around. "No, Haven."

"But that's not fair!" she told him, glaring. "I'm old enough to go wherever I want."

"Your sister's not," he said, nodding at newly crowned six year old standing behind her.

"Then Marin'll stay here."

"Navi's not," he added, then nodding to the pink haired girl at her side.

"How do you know? You're not her father. You can't-"

"I'm the fucking guild master," he told her back just as harshly. "What I say goes. And I say-"

"Then me and Locke'll go alone."

His eyes fell to the soon to be ten year old standing next to his daughter, who did not, in any way, look ready to defy his master.

"No, you're not."

"You-"

But by then, his attention had drifted to the letter that he had just opened, yet another one detailing all the damage that a certain team had dealt to a poor town.

"Dragneel!" He growled as he jumped up from his seat and marched across the guildhall towards the man, who was currently eating more than his fair share of food, his wife and stupid cat right next to him.

"Uh-oh," Navi said, a hand coming up to her mouth as she watched the Master go over to chew her father out. Then she started giggling. Haven, however, saw the whole thing as no laughing matter.

"I hate you!" she yelled at Laxus, though it was drowned out by the sound of everyone else in the guild.

"Come on, Haven," Locke said, reaching over to pat his blonde friend on the head. "Just 'cause we can't go to the park today, it don't mean-"

"Oh, I'm going to the park," she said, turning swiftly away from him. "We all are. Now come on."

"B-But Haven," her little sister whined, rushing to catch up as she headed to the guildhall doors. "Daddy said-"

"If you wanna be a baby, Marin, you can stay and-"

"Hey." And suddenly, Haven noticed which table they were by and frowned. Seated at it were her uncle and one of her aunts, Bickslow and Evergreen.

"What's your problem, kid?" Bickslow kept up, staring at her through his visor.

"Problem, kid?" some of his stupid dolls piped up.

"Why do you care?" she growled as Marin rushed over to the table for Evergreen's protection.

"Personally, I don't," he told her then as he looked back at his food in front of him. "But if Lissy hears you talking that way to your sister, she's going to-"

"I don't care! I don't-"

"Oh, you don't?"

Just like that, she did. Mainly because the sound of the voice behind her was eerily close to that of her Aunt Lisanna.

"Bet you'll care when I go and get Mira, huh?" Lisanna tapped Haven and Navi on their heads as she passed them, quickly heading over to the table to join her husband. Bickslow stuck his tongue out in greeting, but she only rolled her eyes.

"Will you take us to the park?" Marin asked as she stood by Evergreen still, convinced the second she left, Haven'd tear into her again.

"Please?" Navi asked. "Mommy and Dad are going to go on a job today, so they can't. And I'm gonna stay the night with Haven, so Ms. Mira went to the store to go buy some things."

"What about Laxus?" Evergreen asked. "Or Levy, Locke?"

"She ain't around either," his son said, reaching up to scratch his head. He did that a lot, as his coarse black hair was usually tangled and unwashed, much to his mother's usual chagrin. "She's on a mission. And Dad's at home."

"See, kids, we ain't really children people, you see?" Bickslow glanced at them. "And the park sounds really-"

"But you have a son," Haven pointed out, glaring at him. She and her uncle had a pretty rocky relationship for the most part. One minute, they were best friends, the next they were bitter enemies. Not that Bickslow ever changed, but Haven's opinion on a person was the most untrustworthy thing in the world. "And a bunch of dolls that you treat like your children."

Bickslow blinked. "What's your point?"

"You-"

"Where is our kid, Lissy?" Bickslow cut his niece off, which ticked Haven off even more.

"Mirajane took him to the store with her," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "Guys, do you really want to go to the park? Can't you just go play in the pool or something?"

"Or practice your magic," Evergreen said as she ran a hand down Marin's white hair. When the little girl looked down at her, she said, "If they're being mean to you, sweetie, you don't have to play with them."

When she glanced across the table at her glaring sister though, Marin knew better than to say anything other than, "No, I'm fine."

"Why can't you go to the park by yourselves, anyhow?" Bickslow grumbled. "I mean, come on. You ain't babies."

"I know we're not," Haven agreed. "But Laxus is being mean. He says that we have to have someone go with us or we can't go."

"Three little girls at the park? Hmmm." The seith shook his head. "You got Locke with him. Ain't you, what? Eighteen by now, kid?"

He blinked. "I'm nine."

"Close enough."

"Just go play at the pool, guys," Lisanna said then with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not your parents. If they say you can't go-"

"Locke's mom and dad let him go anywhere though. And Natsu says that Navi can do whatever she wants whenever she wants," Haven argued.

Bickslow snorted. "Is that what he says?"

"It actually is," Lisanna whispered softly to him. Then, glancing over at the kids, she said, "Haven, if Laxus says you can't go somewhere, you can't. Wait until Mira gets back, huh? I'm sure she'll let you go."

But she didn't want to wait till then. And as she stomped off, the others following, she decided that she wouldn't wait till then.

"Are we not going swimming?" her sister asked as they walked out of the guild.

"No, Marin, we're not," Haven grumbled, glancing at the timid girl. "We're going to the park. And if you don't want to or are gonna be a big baby about it, stay home."

"Haven," Locke complained as the youngest child in the group let out a slight noise of distress. Navi reached over to wrap an arm around the girl, staring at Haven as well. She knew better than to correct her friend though. Once she decided something, they all either went along with it or got the brute force of a spoiled eight year old girl.

"Then you can stay too, Locke. All of you can! I don't care. I-"

"We're going," Navi mumbled, following along behind her at a slower pace, holding Marin back with her. Even Locke wasn't keeping up with Haven, instead kicking at the ground as he followed behind her.

"Just stop yelling," he mumbled.

"But we gotta be back before my dad and mom leave, okay? For their job? They said they're leaving-"

"After sundown, Navi," Haven complained. "We're just going to the freaking park. So shut up."

Now though, the park didn't sound fun to any of the other kids. At all. Especially Marin who, being the overly timid younger sister, was near tears at the thought of her sister reprimanding her again. Locke had been their only hope of standing up to her, but he was keeping quiet too. He usually did when Haven was in one of her tantrums. It was just easier that way. Because there was no fighting with her then.

The further they got from her father's guildhall though, the more relaxed Haven became. And when her mood became more laidback, it gave the others a chance to calm down some too. Even Marin was giggling and chasing after them then, as they all raised towards the park, almost running into other pedestrians on the sidewalk at times. In fact, once Navi actually did. And it had to be the worst person to run into.

"Hey, kid," the man grumbled as Navi ran full on into one of his legs, the force making her fall back on her butt. "It ain't too manly to run into other people."

Marin, who had been trailing behind the others, came to a stop when she got to Navi, who was still on the ground, staring up at the man standing over her.

"Uncle Elf," the girl giggled as she moved to help Navi stand up.

"What are you two doing here?" He was carrying a bag of groceries in his hands, but did bend down some to stare at them. "You with your parents?"

"No," Navi said, shaking her head. "And sorry. We were with Haven and Locke, but…I think they ditched us now."

It wasn't intentional. But the two of them were currently in a heated battle of racing towards the park. They were long gone.

"Well," Elfman said slowly, reaching down with one hand to ruffle his niece's hair. "You better hurry and catch up with them, huh? Where you kids going, anyhow?"

"Just the park," Navi answered as Marin took to giggling.

"Have at it then," Elfman said, unconcerned as he gave Navi a pat on the head as well. "And be more careful. No telling who you can run into, huh? Not everyone's such a real man like me. Might not be too happy."

"Bye, Elf," Marin called with another giggle as she and Navi took off racing again. "Love you."

"Love you too. You're so manly, Marin."

By the time she and Navi got to the park, Locke and Haven were already there, locked in a battle then.

"-got here first!"

"You did not," Locke told the younger girl. "You always do this. I won. And I'm not going to let you say that I didn't."

"You didn't win."

"I did too!"

"Who cares who won?" Navi came walking over to them with a grin. "We came here to play, not to fight."

Marin hung back though, staring at them. Locke and Haven fighting usually ended badly.

But Navi, being the best friend to both of them, had long figured out just how to get them distracted enough to forget their arguments.

It was decided, rather quickly, that it would be determined who had really won by a new race, just between Locke and Haven, around the park. Marin and Navi would even wait at the park bench it would end at, so they would see exactly who won.

They even let Marin yell go, which she liked, giggling slightly as the older two children took off. Then she went to sit down on the bench next to Navi and wait.

"Who do you want to win?"

"Haven," Navi said. "Do you not?"

"No, I do," Marin assured her. "I think Locke does too."

Because if she didn't win, it very well might just ruin their whole day at the park.

In the end, Haven lucked out as Locke tripped about halfway through, giving her all the time she needed to beat him.

Boy, if she wouldn't shut up about that. They just let her brag for a bit, knowing that the victory would run its course quickly.

Hopefully.

Eventually they got down to really playing though, their game of tag somehow morphing into hide and go seek, Navi finding herself it. She took after her father though and had quite the problem with cheating and snuck a few peeks. Per usual, Marin stuck close to Locke, not wanting to be alone, the two of the taking cover over the same set of bushes. And Haven dove behind a tree at the last minute, not far from them.

Sp predictable.

She made a big show of it though, going off in the other direction to search some, wait for them to pop out and try to run to base.

But no one came.

Ugh. They were going to make her chase 'em, huh?

She went to the shrubbery that Locke and Marin were hiding beneath first, as it would be easy to get one of them. Either Marin would freeze up, too scared of being caught to run, and she could get her, or Locke, what with his overly caring nature, would try to help Marin get away and Navi would catch him.

A win-win.

But…they weren't under there. Which was odd, she figured, as she had kept a pretty good eye on them.

Where could they have gone?

So she went over to the tree that Haven was behind only to find…no.

How had she lost all three of them?

"No fair," Navi grumbled as she took to running around the park, searching for her friends. At first, she was certain that they were only playing a trick on her. They had to be as there was no way that, after ten minutes, none of them would have appeared or tried to change hiding spots.

After twenty minutes, the young fire mage got a tad worried.

"Haven? It's not funny anymore," she called out to them. "Locke? I… Did you guys ditch me?"

The park wasn't empty by any account. It was a rather nice day, if not a tad breezy, and there were a few other kids out playing, as well as couples. Maybe…maybe they found someone else to play with?

As time went on though, Navi only got more worried. She kept going back to the bench that they were using as base for their game, to see if the others had returned, but they didn't.

Eventually, as she was searching for them, she found tangled in some bushes the little knit cap that Marin always wore. She had a tendency to get cold easily and was usually bundled up in stuff.

It was then that Navi decided that even if it was a joke, even if they had only ditched her for some reason, that she didn't care. They'd been gone for awhile at that point and…well…

She wasn't scared or nothing! She wasn't a baby. But…

When the pink haired child arrived back at the guildhall, she was expecting to find her friends there, waiting for her. Upon finding that that wasn't the case, she headed over to where her father was sitting, talking happily to her mother and Happy.

"Hey, Navi." Lucy spoke right over Natsu upon spotting their daughter. "Where-"

"I went to the park with Locke and Haven and Marin and…and…and… They ditched me!"

Now, for the record, Navi wasn't a tattletale, no matter how many times Haven called her that, it just wasn't true! She just…liked her father. And mother. A lot. And told them things. About the other kids. And how mean they were to her sometimes.

"Poor Navi." Happy, who was standing on the table, jumped off before landing on her head, where he stayed. That usually made her feel better, but in the moment…

"Where did they go?" Lucy asked her daughter then as Natsu only frowned.

"Why'd they ditch you? That's not very friendly," he complained. "And you're supposed to be staying with Haven while we're gone. Is that not happening now or-"

"I don't know," she said, speaking more to her mother then as she moved to hand her Marin's cap, which she'd been clutching the whole time. "I found this though. Haven's mean sometimes, but why would Locke and Marin leave me too?"

Frowning, Lucy took the hat. "That is kinda weird. I haven't seen them around here. Maybe-"

" _You_."

At the sound of his guild master's voice, Natsu grimaced. Laxus had already scolded him earlier which sucked because it hadn't even resulted in a battle. The last thing he wanted was to go through that again.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu grumbled as the lightening mage approached the table. "I get it, alright? Don't cause too much damage."

"I told you not to cause any," Laxus grumbled, but he didn't even glance at the man. He was glaring instead at his daughter. "But I don't give a damn about that right now. Where are Haven and Marin, Navi?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me. I-"

"She honestly doesn't," Lucy said, shooting him a frown as Happy jumped off the girl's head to land on the table once more, just so he could glare up at Laxus. "She said that your daughters and Locke ditched her at the park. She doesn't know where they went. Here. This is Marin's, isn't it?"

Natsu, wanting to get back on the good side with the guy (if he had one of those), snatched it first and took a big whiff. He thought, maybe, he would be able to smell another guild member on it. Like Gray or Max or someone. Someone who might have saw the kids out and let them accompany them somewhere. Instead he only frowned.

"It only smells like her. Mirajane. Your house. Locke. Haven. Navi. Evergreen. Elfman. You. And…something sorta like you," he grumbled to Laxus as the man took it in his own hand. He didn't have to sniff it, not really, as he almost immediately recognized it. Still, he held the cloth against his nose, breathing in deeply once, just to be sure.

"That's not me." He tossed the cap down on the table letting out a low growl. Navi rushed over to her father for protect.

"What do you mean?" Lucy stood. "Who-"

"It's feint, but it's there," Laxus growled as he turned away from them. Mirajane, who was back from the store at that point and was over waiting on a table, glanced over at the sound of his roar.

"Laxus." She came over to his side almost immediately. "What-"

"He has them. I know he does," Laxus said. "I-"

"Who? Who has who?"

"The girls," he said through clenched teeth. Then, he yelled out, "Bickslow! Ever! Freed! Come the fuck on."

"Laxus!" Mirajane was rushing after him as he only headed to the door, his old bodyguards, still ever so loyal, rushing to his side. Most everyone was glancing up at his outburst. "Who are you talking about? Who has them? What-"

He didn't turn around to look at her as he headed out of the guildhall doors. Over his shoulder though, he only hissed, "Ivan."


	2. Chapter 2

"How could Ivan fucking take them?" Gajeel grumbled as he followed the damn Salamander back to the guildhall. He had come to get him after Laxus took off. No one wanted to be the one that had to tell Gajeel that his son was gone. "And why would he take Locke?"

"Not to sound…forgetful or anything," Natsu said slowly as Happy and Lily flew above them. "But, uh, and don't tell anyone I asked… Who's Ivan?"

Gajeel only growled.

"Natsu," Happy said. "You know; Laxus' father."

Lily, who was still in his tiny form, only shook his head. "I do not understand what he would want with Locke. And if he didn't take Navi as well, clearly he was only going after the two Dreyar girls."

"He's lucky he didn't take Navi," Happy said. "Right, Natsu?"

He only shook his head. "Let's just get back to the guildhall and see if Laxus has gotten back."

They were glad to find that he had, along with his bodyguards. Elfman had apparently arrived at some point too and was crying over in the corner, like usual.

"I have their scent," Laxus told Gajeel as he approached the table the man was at. He was packing a backpack with a couple medical supplies. "I figured we'd go now."

"We'll go too," Freed told him. "Laxus. We-"

"No," he grumbled. "I'm going alone. The only reason Gajeel gets to go is because it's his kid."

"What even fucking happened?" Gajeel grumbled as Lily landed on the table, crossing his arms. Natsu had go over to comfort Navi, who was sitting with her mother and Gray over in the corner. "How-"

"Natsu's kid said they were playing hide and seek, but she couldn't find them."

"That doesn't make any sense. Both Locke and Haven have been training. I mean, fine, maybe they couldn't beat Ivan or whoever he had working with him, but Navi should have at least seen or heard something."

Laxus shook his head. "They found Marin's little cap. Maybe…I don't know. If Ivan had her and told them he'd hurt her if-"

"They still would have-"

"I don't fucking now, Gajeel," he growled, glaring at the other man then. "Alright?"

"Not alright. It's your old man that fucking has them! This is all your fault. Everything bad that happens to Locke always has to do with your damn kid. It always-"

"That's enough." Lily had his arms crossed, glaring at both of them. "We are only losing ground. It matters not why they were taken. Only that they were. If they were. And at the moment we will treat it as if they were. For all we know, Ivan used his illusion magic. He possesses that, yes, Laxus?"

He only grunted. Then he looked around. "Where's the fucking demon?"

"We don't have time to wait for your damn wife," Gajeel complained. "I have to get this kid back before mine shows up. I'm not even supposed to let the brat walk to the guildhall alone in the morning. If she finds out that he was…out playing alone, I'll be in trouble."

Everyone could see right through that though, him trying to hide his fear of what was happening to his son in his fear of his wife finding out. He was practically transparent.

"Laxus." Mirajane was rushing up the stairs then, from the book room. "Here. I have these past few letters that Ivan sent you. I thought it would help you with scent."

She came rushing across the guildhall to him. When she was close enough, he only grabbed the letters before moving to kiss her head.

"I'll be back, demon. Tonight hopefully."

"I don't know why you're telling me that. I'm going with you."

"No, you're not," he said as he stuffed the letters in the pack as well before glancing at her. "You're going to stay here."

"I am not."

"If the girls come back-"

"Elf and Lisanna will be here for them," she said, gesturing to her siblings, who were sitting together along with the Thunder Legion. "I'm going."

"Mirajane-"

"I am."

"I'm your master and I'm ordering you to-"

"Then I renounce Fairy Tail until this is over."

"Mirajane-"

"I'm going."

"Ivan is-"

"Ivan is with your kids." Natsu was coming back over then. "And you'll need all the help you can get. That's home come I'm going too."

Now it was both Gajeel and Laxus complaining.

"No fucking way."

"Hell no!"

"Natsu would be a great help," Lily said noting that Happy stayed over with Navi, trying to cheer the sobbing girl up. "We have three missing children. Three slayers would be-"

"Wendy." Laxus glanced around. "Wendy! Get over-"

"Wendy's out on a job," Mirajane said. "Face it; you're stuck with Natsu."

Stuck being the operative word.

"Fine," Laxus grumbled, zipping up the backpack before shoving it at Natsu. "But you're carrying the shit."

Natsu only took to slinging the backpack over his shoulders before heading back over to his family.

"Navi," he sighed as he leaned down to look at her. "I'mma go get your friends back, huh? So don't worry anymore. Have you ever seen me not come back successful?"

"Do you want us to go?" Gray asked as Lucy nodded as well.

"I-"

"Not you, Luce. You gotta stay with Navi," he said, patting his daughter on the head once more. "And gross, Gray. Like I'd ever want you there trying to steal the attention."

"We're trying to rescue Master's kids, dumbass, but you always want to turn things into-"

"Let's fucking go," Laxus was growling then as he headed out of the guildhall, moving to grab his oversized coat while he was at it. "Dragneel!"

"You heard the love in his voice? He knows I'm about to save the day." Natsu kissed Navi's head that time before winking at her. "I'll be back soon. Behave while I'm gone, huh?"

"Bye, Lucy." Happy jumped off the table then before taking to the air. "Bye, Navi."

"We'll look for the kids here, Laxus," Freed called out to his idol with an air of confidence. "All of the guildhall will."

"Whatever," he grumbled as he left. "Just stay the fuck out of my way."

* * *

It was dark and cold when Marin woke up, which immediately set her into a round of tears. She always tried not to cry much, but…but…

It was just so scary! And her head hurt. Where… What had happened?

"Marin?"

That was Locke. Even in the darkness, she could make out his voice.

"Where are you?"

She only kept crying. She wanted Laxus. Or Mirajane. Or Ever. Or Bickslow. Or Lisanna. Or Elfman. Or-

"Here you are." Locke was in front of her then. "I thought I was alone in here. It's so dark. I don't think you're sister's with us. Or Navi."

Marin only sniffled. "I wanna go home."

"We'll get home, Marin." He sat down next to her then. "I promise."

"Where are we?"

"I dunno," he admitted slowly then. "We were out, playing at the park. Remember?"

She only nodded. "Yeah."

"And then everything looked…funny. I could see Navi looking for us, but she couldn't see or hear us. Remember? And then there was this man. He-"

"He was scary."

"Yeah. And we tried to fight, but he hit you in the head first. And you went down. Then he hit me. It was really hard. I guess that he got Navi and Haven too. I dunno. I think we passed out. Then I woke up in here."

Marin snuggled up close to him for protection. Locke frowned at this for a moment before just patting her on the head.

"Do you think Daddy's coming? And Mommy? And your daddy? And mommy?"

"I bet so," he said. "But we'll probably get out of here before we even need them, I bet. Me and Haven are pretty strong."

Marin's tears had dried up then and she only giggled a little. Then, "Locke?"

"What?"

"Do you think Haven's okay?"

He only sighed, rubbing at his head. "Haven's probably doing better than the both of us."

And she was. In fact, at the moment, Haven was being fed lunch.

"Do you like your food, child?"

Haven kept picking at the plate sat in front of her. "Can I go home now?"

The man sitting across from her at the table on shook his head. "I told you. You are with your grandfather now. You-"

"And I told you," she repeated again, taking the same tone as him. "That Gramps is dead and sometimes I can still see him, but Laxus says not to say anything about it to anyone, 'cause they can't see him. But you won't listen."

The man only grunted. "Makarov was not your grandfather. He was your great-grandfather."

"He's still Gramps," she grumbled as she sat there, taking another look around. When she'd come to some time earlier, it was to find herself in handcuffs, lying down on the floor of what looked like someone's office. There was a desk with papers and stuff littered around, as well as a man, that same mean man, that had taken them at the park, seated there.

"Don't tell me," he had grumbled dryly at the sight of her there, wiggling around on the ground, chewing at the cuffs they'd placed her in, "that you're one of those annoying slayer type and can eat things."

"No," she'd grumbled as she still wiggled around, trying to get free. "I ain't a slayer." Her head had hurt and she was still a little fuzzy. She did remember though, at least somewhat, that she was still supposed to be upset with Laxus (something about telling her no), and quickly added, "Laxus won't give me a lacrima. Says that I'm fine just learning lightning magic. I hate him!"

That little admission made the man at the desk frown slightly. Then, slowly, he asked, "Do you want a lacrima placed in you, child?"

"I'm not a child!" She was getting a little frustrated, as whatever sort of cuffs they had her in were keeping her from shooting off bolts of lightning, which was usually what she did when she got trapped. "Now let me go! Laxus is going to be very mad when he gets here. He's gonna kill you."

"I find that doubtful."

"Yeah, well, I don't."

The man only stood slowly then, from his desk, before crossing the tiny room over to the eight year old. "What's your name, child? Haven? Or Marin?"

She stopped wiggling then, glancing up at the man. Then she spit. "Fuck you!"

That's something Laxus always said when people were getting too nosey. Mirajane said it was a bad word, but Haven figured at the moment, she could use as many bad words as she wanted.

She had been…what? Kidnapped?

She sure hoped not. Of course, she knew that she'd make a dashing escape and be home in time for supper or whatever (she was just awesome like that), but if Laxus found out, he really would never let her go to the park alone again.

"You little brat!" The man kicked her then, right in the stomach. Haven let out a sound of despair then, doubling over. Then, slowly, the man stood straight again, clasping his hands behind his back. He took a breath before saying, "Is that anyway, child, to behave around your grandfather?"

Haven only blinked then, glancing around. "Gramps is dead."

The man stilled at that, if only for a moment, before turning away from her. "Yes. I am aware of that. Makarov was rather old. Too old."

"That's what Laxus used to say."

Sneering then, the man glanced over his shoulder at her. "Do you know who I am, child?"

"A kidnapper," she said as she only laid there then, the pain in her stomach from being kicked too much for the eight year old. She'd given up on getting out of her restraints. "And if you got Marin, I'mma hurt you even worse! And Navi's daddy is the Salamander. He'll burn you alive! And Locke's daddy… He's just mean. He'll be real mean to you!"

The man only shook his head. "I'm Laxus' father."

Haven blinked. Then she narrowed his eyes. "Then I hate you even more! You're mean to Laxus and that's not okay!"

Unless she was being mean to Laxus. Then it was pretty acceptable.

Snorting, the man glanced down at her once more before going back to his seat. "You will either comply with me, child, or I will get the younger one. Or even the boy that I took. I do not care. I wished for the child to be of my blood, but I am to the point now-"

"The young- You leave Marin alone!"

"Ha! So you are Haven."

She only laid there though, glaring over at him. "Leave Marin alone. She's sick. She can't help herself. If you hurt her-"

"Sick?" Groan. Then, "I've gone through that before and it only came to be a disappointment. No, you will do."

"For what?"

"For what?" he mocked before shaking his head. "Sit there and wrestle with your cuffs more. If you get out of them, you'll be rewarded with lunch. If not, I will go and poke around with the little sickly one. How do you like that?"

With that incentive and warning, Haven pushed passed the pain in her tummy (it was fading anyhow), and began to try her hardest to break her restraints. But it was futile. She wasn't strong enough.

Which, by the way, was not something that Haven was usually able to admit. She'd take on the scariest of older children, even when she knew she was weaker, refusing to back down until usually Locke would have to pull her away and drag her back home, bloodied and bruised.

"Haven," Laxus would always groan. "I didn't teach you magic so you could go out and get yourself killed."

"I was training."

"Those kids are too old for you and Locke to be playing with. They're-"

"I'm as strong as them! I- Ow! Laxus-"

"It's for your own good," he'd sigh as he'd pour some sort of elixir of sorts over her wounds, regardless of how it stung. "You little brat."

As she laid there though, on the floor of that office, she knew better. She knew that if she sat there and tried to play tough that she'd only wear herself out. And then that man, Laxus' father apparently, would go and mess with Marin. She didn't want that to happen. Marin didn't even know any magic at all! She was practically still a baby.

So she had to admit defeat.

Sort of.

She'd only seen it once. She was out on a job with Laxus (he rarely took her on those, as he himself rarely went on them) and was in another town. They'd just finished the job and were eating at some restaurant when this woman just started…spasming on the ground. She fell from her chair and shook all over. People went crazy trying to help her.

"She had a seizure," Laxus explained later. "Scary, huh?"

Haven remembered that always. It had been so weird. And in that moment, there with her supposed grandfather, she only started shaking as best she could, closing her eyes, attempting to mimic what she remembered. The woman had stuck her tongue out, Haven recalled, and people were worried she was going to bite it off. Sticking her own out then, she even slobbered a little.

Evergreen always said that she had a flair for drama and, well, Haven was giving it her all then.

"Hey, now!" Ivan was rushing back over when he noticed. "What are you- Gisela? No, no, no. Shit. This is not… Gisela!"

He was quick then to fish the key out of his pocket and rush to her side, undoing her bonds almost immediately. He tried to do something weird too, where he cradled her or something, but Haven was done with her performance anyhow.

"Ha ha. You let me out." Haven shifted away from the man as he only stared at her in shock. Wiping at her mouth then to get the spit off, she said, "Who's Gisel- Ow!"

He struck her. Right there in the mouth. Hard.

"You're not my grandpa! Gramps would never-"

Ivan only growled, there on his knees, before moving to pick up the cuffs again. "Come here, you little brat! I'm going to-"

"No way!" Haven scrambled away. "You said that if I got out of the cuffs, you'd leave Marin alone. So I got out of them. Don't be mad that I'm smarter than you!"

Ivan stopped then, at her words, just sitting there. Haven stared at him, waiting for him to do something to her. She'd fill him full of lightning if he tried!

Slowly, he smiled. Then he laughed. Tossed his head back and laughed. As if his creepy eyebrows didn't make him weird enough…

Although…looking at them then…they did kinda look like Gramp's did. And Laxus.

"You little brat," he laughed as he slowly got to his feet. Then, sobering, he said, "Fine. You win. You outsmarted me. Come. I will have your lunch prepared."

"And Marin-"

"I won't touch your sister. For now. But if you so much as show any act of rebellion, I'll scalp her and the boy."

The boy. He kept saying that. He must have had Locke as well. But so far, he hadn't mentioned Navi. Maybe she got away.

So that was how Haven found herself seated at the table, her hands free, but the man, Ivan was his name, he told her, wasn't stupid. He'd had this weird purple looking man bind her legs with the cuffs, rendering her magic useless and any attempt at escape fruitless.

She was stuck.

Sigh.

"Your  _Gramps_ ," Ivan was growling then, "was nothing more than a cheat! He owed me that damn guildhall. And he took it away from me! He turned my own son against me. He-"

"You yell a lot." Haven went back to poking at her dinner. "And hey, you have to remember to give Marin her medicine after lunch. Or else she won't feel good the rest of the day. And Locke's mommy makes him take all these stupid vitamins that are supposed to make him strong or something, so you better give him those. And…and…uh… My mommy gives me tons of ice cream and cookies after lunch. So-"

"Silence, brat!" He slammed his fists against the table then, making the plates and cups jump. Haven only frowned.

"Fine. Just ice cream. No cookies."'

Ivan was staring her down and it was kinda making Haven uncomfortable. He'd already proven that he'd strike her if she was too annoying, so she figured it best to just finish her lunch.

"You're sister and friend won't be getting anything," Ivan growled. "They're useless to me. They-"

"I won't do anything unless you give Marin her medicine!"

"If you don't do anything, there won't be a Marin to give medicine too!"

Huh. He had her there.

"Now." Ivan stood once more. "Finish eating. I'll have someone come in here in a few minutes to escort you to your room when you're done."

"I wanna see Marin."

He only ignored her though, heading out of the room. They had like minds though, he and his granddaughter did, as that was just where he was headed.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The light was blinding to the two children as the door to whatever windowless room they were being kept in was opened, revealing the same dark clothed man as before.

Marin hid her face in Locke's side as he only took to covering his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden light.

"Locke," the younger child complained as he stood up, though he quickly only moved to stand in front of her, not even waiting for the man to speak before yelling out a spell.

"Iron-" he started, but was quickly shut up as the man only raised a hand. Seemingly, out of nowhere, these little white dolls appeared. Marin was captivated by them almost immediately, but Locke was suspicious.

"I could kill you, boy," he said simply. "And yet, you are not the one I am after. In fact, if you were not such a little brat, I would have never brought you here. Yet you insisted on-"

"Where's Haven?" He still stood in front of Marin, hoping to shield her from…from whatever those dolls were, but there were so many of them. He was afraid if he attacked the man, he would have them retaliate against the little girl. "And Navi?"

"You're what? The Iron Slayer's boy?" The man grinned at him, showing off his teeth. "I suppose that sellout will show up along with my son, to- What are you doing?"

It was Marin though, sneezing, that made Locke turn. She'd gotten snot everywhere and was distressed about it.

"Here," he sighed as he only turned to face her, getting down on his knees as well. Then, fishing around in the pocket of his jeans, he produced a tissue. He always carried them around when he was with the little girl, if only because she needed them so much. Haven hated it and Gajeel would grumble about him being soft, but he couldn't help it. He loved taking care of the girls. Holding the tissue up to her nose, he merely said, "Blow."

Ivan's face clouded over, watching this exchange. Were they…oblivious to him?

"I am speaking," he growled, but Locke hardly turned to glance at him.

"My tummy hurts," Marin told Locke.

"You're probably just hungry," he said. "And scared. Don't worry though, okay? Do you need to blow again?"

When she shook her head, he got to his feet once more before turning to glance at the man. "She has allergies. Her mommy usually gives her pills. Do you-"

"What do you think this is, boy? Why would I-"

"Well," the nine year old said slowly as he only put the used tissue back in his pocket (though he was the little caretaker of the group, he had quite the problem with hygiene himself). "You're keeping us, huh? Until our parents come? I bet it was something that Natsu did. My daddy says that he screws up a lot."

"Mine too," Marin whispered.

"But if we're hurt or Marin's real sick when they get here and it was something you could prevent," Locke went on, only staring up at the man, "they're going to be real mad. Especially Marin's mommy and daddy. Mrs. Mirajane can be pretty cruel. And Master Laxus yells. A lot. And he has real pointy teeth. I ain't ever seen him bite someone, but Haven does, so I bet he would too, if he had too."

"No," Marin giggled, thinking about her father yelling at someone, like the man before them, and just going off and biting them. She couldn't picture it. "You're silly, Locke."

"And you gotta feed us lunch too, soon," Locke went on. "We're getting hungry. I'll eat anything! But Marin mostly likes sandwiches. No crust though. And Navi likes most anything, but-"

"Would you shut up?" Ivan was louder then, just about yelling at them. Marin cowered, but Locke only stared at him. He had gone on jobs with his father and mother a lot recently and, well, it took a lot to scare him. Fine, he mostly hung back with Pantherlily (the Exceed was rather dismayed to have to miss out on the action, but was nonetheless dedicated to keeping the boy safe), but this guy before him was nothing.

He made some pretty weird paper dolls though and he didn't want them coming anywhere near Marin.

"I did not take you for…ransom or whatever stupid thing you think," he growled. "I didn't want to take you at all!"

"Then what do you want?" Locke asked. "Because-"

"You think that you question me now?" He snorted before moving his hand. Then the dolls dissipated. "You, boy, are of zero value to me. But you, girl… Come."

Marin only sat there though, staring at him. She wasn't going anywhere.

"No way." Locke gave him his darkest stare yet. "You're not going anywhere with her. You're going to bring me Navi and Haven. Now. And then you're gonna let us go."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because our dads are slayers. And our mothers aren't too bad either," the nine year old said, glaring up at the man. "They won't pay you whatever it is you think you're getting. Even if Master is the only one who comes, he'll just shoot you full of electricity and fry you. Especially if you come near Marin again. She's just a little kid!"

"And you're not?"

He tried to buck up to the best of his ability. "I'm a man."

"Locke," Marin whispered from behind him as the man only snorted again. "Don't fight. He-"

"I'm not afraid of him," he told her before turning his attention back to Ivan. "I'm not. You can't even go after people your own age! You had to pick on a bunch of little girls. You're…you're…stupid! And when Master gets here, I'mma tell him about how you wouldn't even tell us where Haven is and he's going to punish you real good for it. You don't mess with Fairy Tail."

When the man started to laugh then, it kinda reminded Marin of her Uncle Bickslow. He did that sometimes too. Just tossed his head back and cackled. It sounded demented. Lisanna just assured her that he was only a little crazy. And, well, if he was just a little, than this guy was overly so!

Then, just like that, he was finished laughing. And he looked back at them, his face dark as he took a step further into the room. Marin waited for Locke to say something, call out an attack, but he only shook a little.

The man grinned at him as Locke raised his fist. "Iron Fist!"

But before it connected, Ivan only reached out and slammed his own, normal fist into the little boy's head.

"Locke!" Marin jumped up, but didn't know what to do. She had never learned any spells or anything. None at all. She didn't even like to spar with the other children. Laxus told her that was fine, that she could just work in the guild if she wanted, when she got older. Or be whatever she wanted. She really liked taking care of animals, like Aunt Lissy, so he suggested maybe she'd be a vet.

"You can always be a mage though," he'd assure her sometimes, when they were alone. He'd usually bend down, so that they were eye level. "You know that. Your mommy and I are the strongest people around. You have that in you."

"Mommy's not a mage," she'd always giggle, because the thought was so funny. "Mommy's just a waiter."

"She's barmaid, fine, but you don't even know, kid." He'd kiss her head sometimes then. "And I hope you never have to."

But in that moment, watching Locke get punished for…for…for what? For protecting her? That was what he was trying to do. She could tell. He didn't really like fighting much. Whenever they'd all go out to play together and Haven would pick a fight with the older kid (she did it ever few days or so), he'd always hang back. He wasn't really confrontational.

Gajeel would yell at him a lot for this, sometimes even in front of the other kids. But Lily was always quick to come to Locke's defense.

"You just do not enjoy fighting," Lily would say. "That's fine. You should not have bloodlust anyhow."

Locke would only shake his head, even after Gajeel just finished chewing him out about being cowardly.

"Fighting's not right," he'd tell his father. "If someone needs me, then I'll protect them. But I'm not going to pick fights for no reason."

"Leave him alone, Gajeel," Levy would always say whenever she caught wind of him trying to force his son to act as recklessly as Haven. "So what? He doesn't want to get hurt or hurt other people. Why is that such a big deal?"

"You've turned him into a big baby! All he does is hang around these stupid girls and hardly even wants to train. What good is that? Huh?"

But the main problem Gajeel had was that Locke did want to learn magic. Just not…his magic.

He really liked support magic. And though he was learning as much as the Iron Dragon Slayer would hand down to him, quite frequently his father would find him with Wendy, going over different healing spells and such.

"That's okay," Haven would always assure him whenever he'd get embarrassed about this fact. Gajeel had hammered it home that learning that sort of magic just wasn't manly. "You can support me in battle. You know, because I'll always be stronger than you anyhow."

And Locke was so kind about it. About everything. He was just such a good friend. He never treated Marin like she was younger than him, never complained about having to drag her around like Haven did. He just thought of her as his friend. And as a friend, he was about to get beat up by this real scary man for her.

That wasn't fair.

"I'll go," Marin said then, though she was sniffling again. The man, having caught Locke's hand then as the man tried to strike him back, only threw the boy from him then.

"As if," he said as he moved to snatch her up, "you had a choice."

"No! Marin!" Locke sprang back up, but Ivan was leaving. "Marin!"

He punched the door when the man slammed it behind him, ignoring the tears that were welling up hot in his eyes. Haven would tease him about it and his father would sometimes complain, call him a wuss. But he wasn't crying because he was hurt or scared. He just…he got so…angry when things didn't go the way he wanted. When he wasn't strong enough. When Gajeel would yell at him or when Haven was being mean to the others. Or when Master was screaming or…or…or…

Why hadn't he trained harder? Haven would have been able to keep Marin safe. He was such a…a…

He hit the door with his fist again. It was solid metal and brought him some pain, but he only glared at it.

What was that man going to do with her?

What was he going to do with any of them?

* * *

"I'm hungry," Happy announced for, oh, the thousandth time. "Did you bring any food, Laxus?"

He only growled, not even glancing at the Exceed who was flying over head. Natsu, who was down on all fours, as for some reason he thought that would help him track the scent better, only shook his head.

"It shouldn't be much further," he said. "I mean, how far could he have taken three children?"

Mirajane had her arms crossed though and kept glancing around, asking frequently if they were going the right way. Laxus could tell the longer they went on her fear was only growing.

There had been once, a long time ago, when she'd lost Marin. It had been in the market and she had both girls with her, Haven probably being about five and Marin two or three. And, like always, Haven had begun to throw a fit over something, leaving Mirajane to deal with it. She sat Marin down on the ground, if only for a second, and the next time she glanced around for her, she couldn't find her.

She freaked. Searched everywhere. Even Haven had gotten upset, the longer time went on that they couldn't find the toddler.

Laxus had just become Master about that time and was actually on his way home from a meeting with some of the other local guilds. Figuring he'd stop off to get the girls a toy or something (he did that far too frequently for Mira's taste, but he just couldn't help it), he happened to be in the market too.

And he saw her. Marin. She was all alone, but didn't look concerned about it. For a second, he thought maybe it wasn't her, but hey. It wasn't like he knew that many white haired, blue eyed children.

She was standing over a little cage near a cart, a few puppies in there, the merchant not even noticing her there as he haggled with someone about a cat or something.

Laxus only walked over to where she was standing before bending down, so that he was in front of the cage too.

"See one you like?"

She looked up then, grinning just from the sound of his voice. "Daddy!"

"We can't have a doggy," he sighed as he only reached out to pick her up. She readily held out her arms too. "I'm sorry. Now, tell me if I'm crazy here, Mar, but I don't see Mira anywhere. Or Bickslow. Or Lisanna. Are you alone?"

She only snuggled up close to him. There were so many scents swirling around, that it took him a second, but Laxus picked up on Mira's rather quickly.

"Oh, Laxus," Mirajane had cried when she saw him with their daughter in his arms. He found her in a crowd of people, searching for their daughter, their older one standing there as well. "How did you…"

But she didn't even finish speaking as she reached out to take Marin from him, the little girl giggling.

"Hey, brat," he'd greeted Haven who only stuck her tongue out in return, still rather upset by the whole thing.

Mira swore about a thousand times that she'd never lose either of the children again and Marin had just repeatedly asked for a dog, Laxus always being sure to change the subject, as his wife was so emotional in that moment that he feared she'd do just about anything to make it up to their girls, a transgression that Marin still didn't even really knew occurred.

He rarely saw Mira that worried about anything. She was usually so level headed, even in the most stressful of situations. But he'd always known that if you messed with her siblings, she could go crazy on you. He figured it was the same with her children.

Not that he felt any differently.

"You don't think," she whispered to Laxus at one point as the light got low and night was fast approaching, "he'd hurt them…do you? I-I mean, why would he? They're his grandchildren."

Laxus only glanced at her. "I've never known him to hurt a child, no, but-"

"He's psychotic," Gajeel grumbled.

"Gajeel," Lily reprimanded, frowning at him. "You're not helping anything."

"Me? I'm not helping?" He snorted, crossing his arms. "My kid would be fine if it wasn't for his fucked up family. You-"

"I have no problem with using half my power right here and now to finish you," Laxus grumbled, not sparing him a glance. He was still staring at Mirajane. To her, he said, "They're fine. I'm sure he just wants…I…"

"Why didn't we just ever return his messages? He wrote you so many letters," Mirajane said, reaching up with one hand to press it against her cheek. "Asking about the kids and the guild and… Maybe he's changed. And he just wanted to meet them. But he knew that you wouldn't allow that so-"

"That makes no sense," Laxus told her softly, though his tone wasn't as harsh. He knew that she was only trying to keep herself reassured. "Mira, there was nothing we could have done. You-"

"Marin needs her medicine though." She stopped walking then, staring at him. With a groan, Laxus stopped too. "And they haven't eaten, Laxus. And if she doesn't have her hat then… She's going to get sick again. He doesn't know that. He-"

"Mira." He grabbed her by the arms then as Gajeel glanced back at them. They were in a forest and the last thing they all needed to get was separated. "Look at me. They're fine. He's not going to kill them or something. And it's only been a few hours. He's probably going to try to do what he did with me. Put a lacrima in them. Or try and get information about Fairy Tail. That's all. And Marin might get sick again, fine, but she'll be home by tomorrow morning and we'll make sure that she gets all better. I promise."

She wouldn't look at him the though, her eyes tearing up. "I'm just worried."

"And you won't be able to stop worrying until we get to them. So come on." He tried to smile at her, but he was sure that it came out as butchered grin. "You can get the first hit in, huh? You haven't transformed in awhile, demon. You think that you still can?"

She didn't grin back at him though. She only pushed out of his grip before turning to walk again. "It won't come to that. We're going to get them back and he's going to explain himself. And then, if I still need to scold him, I will."

"A scolding?" Gajeel snorted as the two of them caught up. "He's in for a lot more than that if he even hurt one of the brats. Who steals children, but a coward? If he wanted to speak with you, Laxus, he fucking could have showed his face in the guildhall. This is absurd! And this better all be resolved before Levy shows back up or else I'm really gonna smash some skulls."

Laxus didn't say anything though, just took another deep sniff, to make sure that the Salamander still had them on the right trail. Though he knew that Natsu wasn't purposely turning the thing into a joke, he also knew that he had that tendency. Not to mention, it wasn't his daughter that was missing. He couldn't understand then what Laxus was going through.

He felt…guilty. He'd known that the kids wanted to go play at the park. Why hadn't he just gone with them? He wasn't  _that_  busy. And he hadn't really been spending too much time with them recently. Not to mention, he had known the second he told Haven no that she would do it anyways. She always did things anyways.

Even when she was a toddler, if he told her no, don't climb on the bookcase, you'll get hurt, what was the first thing that Haven would do? She'd climb even higher on it, just to prove a point. She was rebellious. Bad. And she thought that se was tough.

But she wasn't. She was just a little girl. And he'd perpetuated that delusion that she had about just how strong she was. There was no telling what madness she was getting herself in with Ivan.

And Marin. Poor Marin. She was such a sweet little baby. Why did he even let her hang around Haven? Haven was too wild for her. She was really, honestly, too wild for most of the other little kids. He should just ship her off to the Quatro Cerberus and be done with it.

Ugh. And if anything happened to Gajeel's brat, well, number one, he'd have to save Ivan from the Iron Dragon Slayer's wrath, if not save himself also. Not to mention, he would feel bad. It was his father who'd kidnapped the boy, after all. And Laxus was assuming it was truly for no reason. Locke was probably just a byproduct of Ivan trying to get at Marin and Haven.

His father had done some shit to him in his life. Some seriously horrible things. But stealing his children? That was more than just low. That was horrible.

Fine. Ivan didn't love him. Whatever.

But he did love his girls. Very much so. They were his babies. And the Redfox kid was kinda…well, he put up with Haven pretty well, so Laxus would give him that. And he seemed to be able to care for the other children pretty well. He wasn't sure what kinda mage the kid would make later, but he was a pretty good friend for the time being.

Ivan was going to get it. Whatever his twisted reasoning, Laxus didn't care. But you don't mess with a man's guild.

And you definitely don't make his demon cry. That was just unacceptable.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Marin tried hard to stop crying. Honest, she did, but she was just so scared. And her stomach truly did hurt. A lot. And fine, Locke had said that she was just hungry, but she felt like she was a little sick too. She should know; she was rather the expert on it.

"What is wrong with it?"

Ivan only grunted as he came into his office to find Nullpudding standing there, only person to have stuck by him after the disbandment of Raven Tail and after being released from arrest.

"What is wrong with you, child?" He went to drop her in the chair at his desk. "Huh? You think that I am here to hurt you?"

She only took to covering her eyes. "You hurt Locke!"

"That boy is exactly the type of people that deserve to be hurt."

Marin cried louder. "I want Mommy!"

Ivan snorted as Nullpudding only took to holding hands over his ears. She was giving him a headache.

"I have no personal knowledge to your mother, but what I have heard is that she has tamed my son quite a bit." He continued to stare down at the little girl. "She is the she-devil, no?"

"No," Marin moaned, peeking through her fingers at him. "She's just Mommy."

He gave her a longer stare before saying, "What will it take to get you to stop…wailing? Other than going home?"

He wanted to hit her. That always worked with Laxus. But she just sounded so…pitiful.

Not that something like that mattered to him! Of course not. But still…

"I don't like him. He's scary." She pointed an accusatory finger at Nullpudding who gave her a hard glare back. Ivan only barked an order at him though, making the man leave.

"Now," Ivan began after the purple man left, the door shutting firmly behind him. "Enough with these tears!"

Slowly, she dropped her hands from her eyes. "I want Daddy."

Grunt. Then, reaching out, he patted her on the head. "I don't need you. I was not sure which of you I would need, but as things have shown, it's your sister that will be a better help to me."

Marin only stared up at him. "Is Haven in trouble?"

"With me? No. She's the key to everything!"

He started laughing then. Marin took to looking down at the desk in front of her.

"Do you know," he asked when the laughter died down, "that I am your grandfather?"

"Na-ah. Gramps is dead and Mommy-"

Ivan slammed a hand against the desk as he stood before it making her tremble. "Makarov was  _not_  your grandfather! I am. I took care of your father, the sniveling little runt, for three fucking years after his mother died. And how was I repaid? He can't even give me my damn lacrima back! I saved that…that…jackanapes from certain death. Death! And what does he do for me? What does he do to his poor father? He humiliates me time and time again! He won't even return my- Don't start that again!"

But she couldn't help it. Marin just stared bawling, holding her face in her hands. It was like a bad dream or something. Why wasn't she waking up? And where were Daddy and Mommy? Were they not going to come get them?

She hadn't even wanted to go to the park. She had been fine with playing in the pool or sitting with Aunt Ever and Uncle Bickslow all day. Why did she ever go against Laxus' wishes? As punishment was he going to leave her with this man forever?

"I said to stop!"

Marin jumped out of her chair and hid under the desk. Maybe if she tried really hard to wake up-

"Get up." He was coming around the desk then. "Now. Marin."

She really didn't like that he knew her name. "No!"

The little girl was sure that he was about to yell at her again, but just then, the door to office opened with a bang.

"The boy is making quite the considerable fuss in his room all alone, Master," Marin heard from under the table. She was too afraid to peek out and see who it was. "What should we do with him?"

"I have a few ideas."

"The boy belongs to one of the Dragon Slayers, Master. Do not forget."

Grunt. Then, slowly, Marin heard Ivan walk over to the door. "We will go take a look in on him for ourselves. Maybe persuade him to be a tad quieter, hmmm? And what of my granddaughter?"

"The blonde? She's adjusting nicely. We shut her away in one of the rooms, gave her a few books to read."

"Books. The child likes books?"

"I didn't know what else to give her! This is all very sudden."

"Sudden? I have been planning for her arrival for years. I-"

"You have spoken of taking one of them for years. But this is all spur of the moment! Anything we had in preparation for her is at the actual base. She's lucky she even got those damn books."

The blonde? After they left, Marin crawled out from under the desk. That had to be Haven. But what would they want with her? Mommy and Daddy hardly wanted her most of the time. And it was a beating to find anyone to babysit her if they both had to go out of town for something.

The man though, her grandfather, seemed to have forgotten about her. Maybe he was Laxus' father. He forgot about her a lot too.

Not wanting to stick around to only get trapped with Ivan again, Marin headed straight for the door.

Only she figured that they were going to Locke. He had to be the boy that they were talking about. So she wanted to find Haven.

But…she had no idea where to go!

The office she'd just come out of was in the center of a hallway with many doors, the end on one side leading to an open area and the other leading off to a perpendicular hall. She knew that Ivan had carried her down the other hall and took off running to the open area.

Pushing her fears down as far as they would go, she headed out. Maybe…maybe she would be the one to save the day! And just think how proud Daddy and Mommy and her aunts and uncles would be then? And Locke would hug her and Navi would cheer for her and Haven would…

Haven might actually punch her and accuse her of stealing her moment, but there was no helping that.

* * *

Her room was pretty plain. It had a little cot and a tiny desk, but not much else. Oh, and those books that Tyrosque, a man who claimed to be one of her grandfather's followers, gave to her.

But they all sucked.

One was on magic, the other appeared to be full of maps and things, while the last one was just filled with a bunch of big words that made no sense to her.

She was so bored!

But on the plus side, she did have her own room. Even Laxus and Mom didn't give that to her. So score one for ol' Ivan.

Not that she wasn't hightailing it out of there the second she got the chance, because she was, but if he was her grandpa, maybe…

Well, Laxus talked about him sometimes. He said that he was a pretty bad guy. And yeah, he had kidnapped them, but he said that he was going to give her a lacrima! And that was something Haven wanted more than anything. She wanted to be a Dragon Slayer too, just like Laxus.

In fact, she wanted to be one just so she could surpass him, and take over the guild!

Or whatever. Just being one sounded nice at the moment.

So maybe Ivan wasn't so bad. Maybe he was just…lonely. And sad. And…and…and maybe, after he gave her the lacrima, she could go and visit him sometimes. That sounded nice.

She was laying there on her bed (the sheets smelled kinda bad, but then again, the whole place was a little musty), when the door to the room opened and Ivan walked in.

"They still have you bound," he observed first, glancing at her feet, which were chained. Just so she couldn't run off. "Good. Until you prove your loyalty, I fear that I can't rightly let you go. And as you have those…two people's blood in you, I don't know if I can ever fully trust you!"

She only stared at him. "You know, you ramble a lot."

Grunt. He came further into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Our time is short here. Not more than an hour before your father shows up. And we can't have that."

"Laxus," she whispered as he only nodded.

"He's coming to get you, I'm certain. But we can't be there when that happens."

Haven sat up some then, glaring at him. "You leave Laxus alone. He's-"

"Do you want your lacrima?"

She only stared. "Laxus is plenty mean sometimes, but he's not a bad person. And I…I love him. I'm not going anywhere until I see 'im. And then you can tell him about how you just wanted to give me a lacrima and that'll be fine. Because  _he_  doesn't want to give me one, but if you do it then… And you can give me a Dragon Lacrima? Because Laxus says that they're hard to find. Like, he couldn't even give me one if he wanted. But if you got one, then…"

He came closer still until he was next to the bed. Haven held her breath as he slowly sat on the end of it.

"Do you know, child, why I want one in you?"

"Because you're my grandpa and want to make me happy?"

He wasn't looking at her, but she could tell he wasn't amused. Still speaking in a rather dark tone, he said, "You're right when you say that they're rare. And to possess one is quite the feat in itself, but to hold onto one… So I hid mine, inside my son. Inside…Laxus. But I want it back! I needed it back! The value for it now is…"

"You're gonna take Laxus' and give it to me?" She giggled. "Then he wouldn't even be a slayer! I really would be stronger than him."

He glanced at her, reading on her face that she didn't know what would happen to her poor father if he did take it out of him.

Shaking his head, he said, "I have another. But I still need your father's back."

"Then…is that why you took me? To get him to come here?" She crossed her arms. "That's not nice! And he ain't gonna just give it to you, ya know. You're gonna have to fight him."

"I can fight him. I'll win it back."

"You can't fight him. Least you can't win if you do," she said, shaking her head. "And you can't go around stealing kids, Grandpa."

He blinked. "G-Grandpa?"

"That's what you are," she told him. "Aren't you?"

Ivan let out a breath, reaching up to stroke his beard. "You don't understand the world. None of you do. You don't understand the power that I possess. The value to my name. No one gives me credit for anything!"

"I think that you're plenty strong."

He snorted. "How would you know?"

"'cause you're Laxus' dad. Like how he's my dad. And I'm even stronger than him! And he's stronger than you! But I know Gramps was strong, so you must be between the two of them, huh?"

Grunt. Then, "You talk to much, girl."

"When you give me my lacrima, Grandpa," she went on then, having taken notice of the effect calling that had had moments before, "you gotta let me train in private for a bit, huh? And then bam! I show back up at Fairy Tail and beat the crap outta Locke and Navi and their stupid fathers. Then mine too."

"Your grasp on reality is astounding." He got to his feet. "You said that you like sweets, yes?"

"Lots."

"I'm sending in a tray of…cookies for you." He smiled then, a twisted one, but his back was to her. "Eat them."

Haven blinked. "What else would I do with them?"

"Good girl. I have things to take care of."

"Then we can go get my lacrima?"

Ivan dropped his head, continuing out of the room. Stupid child. But then, Laxus hadn't been too bright either, and he had been able to rise up against his father. He would have to be more careful with this investment.

He'd have more to do with her upbringing. It would be a rather tumultuous one. If he didn't succeed in getting that lacrima out of Laxus, then the man would be around to seek her out.

But no. He couldn't think like that. He had the perfect team. The elite of elite. He wouldn't be losing.

That lacrima would be coming out of Laxus. And he would be cashing in on it.

Then, he'd be implanting one in his granddaughter and getting it back later, when it grew. He'd watch it grow. He'd make her the best mage ever! And then, just when she was at her prime, he'd rip it out of her.

The poor girl. The poor naïve girl.

He headed back to his office. He had another girl to deal with. Another pawn. Hmmm.

"Marin," he called out as he entered the room. "Are you- Marin?"

He searched the room, but no. She was gone!

Cursing, he turned to rush from the office. She had to be around there somewhere. She had to! They needed to find her. And immediately. He would be taking her with him.

Well, someone would be taking her somewhere, in the opposite direction of he and Haven. The Redfox boy could stay in the house though. He and his father were of no use to Ivan.

But first, he had to find the kid.

His yelling brought upon some of his little minions that were floating about. In particular, Hikin, a rather attractive blonde, very experienced in letter magic. Ivan knew that his son had one in that little tribe that he carried around and didn't want him bringing the green haired freak around to screw anything up.

"Where's the girl?" he growled. "The little one. With white hair. She's missing."

Oh, she was missing. But at the moment, Marin was only hoping to be found.

She had, after searching for what felt like forever, found a door that was unlocked that led outside. Apparently, they had been staying in a rather large house or building of sorts.

She'd taken off running almost immediately.

Not that she didn't know it wasn't wrong. Because it was. Haven and Locke would never leave her behind. And, plus, she had no idea where she was going, how far from home she was.

But she had to try.

It was dark out. Nighttime. She was scared of getting caught, but at the same time she was scared of getting lost! And…well…

She just wanted Mommy and Daddy! They always told her if a stranger took her, to run to them. To find them. That they'd find her. So if they were looking, maybe she'd run into them? Or-

And then she hit a wall.

Which didn't make sense to her at first, as she was out in the open area, not even at the tree line that surrounded the property yet.

It had hurt, when she hit whatever it was and the impact had been enough to make her fall back on her butt. Rubbing at her head, she reached out, feeling around in the empty air in front of her. Wh-

And then it happened. Her hand pressed against something solid. Thin air. At her touch though, purple letters appeared. Her fear washed away.

"Freed," she whispered.

She'd seen him do that trick before. He'd form walls around things with words. Once, after Haven kept teasing Marin because she couldn't catch her during tag, Freed had planted one in the center of the yard they were playing in (Ever and Elfman's), blocking Haven in this little box that she couldn't escape. Marin though could go in and out of it and just came up and tagged her.

She really liked Freed.

If he was there that meant…that meant that Daddy was there! And Mommy. And maybe even Ever and Elf. Or Bickslow and Aunt Lissy.

And even though she had been trying to be quiet before, thinking that that was the best plan of attack, Marin threw her head back and screamed then. Loudly. Called out for Daddy and Mommy and everyone else. Someone. They were there and they needed to know where she was.

It was so dark though. She couldn't see very well out in the dark. But when she heard the sounds being returned, people calling her name back, she smiled.

She knew those voices.

They'd come to get her. It was Laxus. And Mira. And Gajeel. And…and that sounded like Navi's dad! He was real great. He was super good at all sorts of magic.

Not that he was better than her daddy of course! Because no one was. He was the strongest man to ever live.

Or at least that's what he said a lot.

But she believed him.

Why would he ever lie to her?

And then, after calling back and forth to them, suddenly, they were there, running out of the forest that surrounded the house. It was her mommy! And Daddy. And the kitties were there too for some reason, which usually excited her, but at the moment, she just found herself crying.

"Marin!" Laxus sounded real emotional. "Marin, come here! Baby, you're not in trouble, just-"

Then he got to her. It made a horrible noise when he smacked against the wall. Marin was still tearful and only blinked, watching too as her running mother hit the wall. Then Gajeel. And the kitties. And Natsu.

"The fuck?" Laxus banged against the wall. "What the-"

"Marin." Mira, pressing her hands against the invisible wall, collapsed to her knees in front of her daughter. "Sweetheart, where are the others?"

Marin only sniffled. "Insides."

"Are you okay?"

"My tummy hurts."

Mirajane was crying then as the guys only all began to hit against the wall.

"It's no use," Lily told them as he landed on the ground. "Do you think it surrounds the whole property?"

"I hate these things!" Natsu kept slamming up against it. "I hate them!"

"Marin, can you get through the wall?" Laxus glanced down at his daughter. She only shook her head. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

Then he was growling as Mirajane only continued to lean against he wall, staring in at her daughter.

"How did you get out?" she asked.

"The scary man left the room and I escaped." Then, scared of being called a coward, she said, "I's gonna get Navi and Haven and Locke, but I got scared. And…and…Daddy, I wanna go home."

He was still cursing.

"Navi ain't here," Natsu told her as he banged his fist against the wall one last time. "But I'm get you out of this, alright? It's me to save the day! Happy, go fly around the wall, huh? See if the wall ends anywhere? Maybe they didn't write it around the whole perimeter."

"Aye, sir," he called, flapping off.

"This doesn't make any sense." Gajeel punched the wall. Then, glancing at the girl, he said, "Hey. You see my boy? He alright?"

Marin glanced at him before nodding. "Locke had a tissue when my nose was runnin'."

Gajeel only slammed his fist against the wall again. "You just didn't want to bring your damn guards with you, Laxus. You bring them everywhere the fuck else!"

But Laxus was already beating himself up about that one.

"There has to be a way in," he said. "There has to. Why-"

He stopped, just like that, as a scent hit him. And suddenly, the house off in the distance that Marin had escaped from was lighting up some. The porch lights or whatever must have come on.

He saw him. His father. He was walking over towards them. Mirajane frowned, moving to get to her feet as Laxus felt energy flow through his body. When his babies were involved, he could go from zero to a five hundred in half a second.

"Ivan," he growled, voice low. "You fucking coward. Give me my daughters back! Now! I'll kill you. I-"

"Oh, there'll be time for that." Ivan was coming closer then, alone. "You are early though, son. Tell me, was the journey long?"

"You-"

Gajeel's eyes darkened as he stared at Ivan.

"This family shit don't involve me and Locke," he said, voice gruff. "So just give me my kid and I'll get out of your hair."

"They ain't the spirit, Gajeel." Natsu bashed his fists together. "We're family. All of us. And-"

"You'll have your son in the coming hours. When this magic wears off," Ivan said simply as Laxus face contorted. Mirajane had an aurora about her then, but she knew transforming at that point would be useless. "When I'm far away with the girls. Your boy was just a causality of war, so to speak. He'll be in this house and you can come get him then. But until that time, you're going to sit here as your incompetent little master-"

"What kinda coward picks on kids?" Natsu wasn't giving up. "And cheats with this kinda stuff? You wanna fight us then fight us! Don't go taking people's babies."

Lily nodded his head in agreement. "The children are innocent."

"No one is innocent." With that, Ivan reached down to pick up Marin. Almost immediately, she let out a loud wail as Mirajane took to beating against the wall again.

"Marin-"

"Mommy!" She fought against the man, but there was no way that she would escape him again. "Daddy!"

"Put her down!" Laxus' lightening was flowing freely about his body then. "Ivan! I'm telling you, let her go. This is your last chance. You-"

"Me? I did not even wish for this to take place in such a way. Watching the poor look on your face as I walk off what your daughter. And there's nothing you can do."

"This is low, man," Gajeel told him as he took found his fists clenching. Marin sounded miserable. And she probably was. Mommy and Daddy were always supposed to protect her. But there they were, just letting her go with this man?

"Marin!" Mira sounded just as bad. Gajeel was real glad then that Levy hadn't been there to be with them, if only so she didn't have to go through the same thing.

Although, maybe she'd have helped them lift the ban on the writing. But even she would need some time with it. Her specialty wasn't Dark Ecriture, after all.

"I'm going to kill you," Laxus whispered darkly to his father. "This isn't a game. I'm going to-"

"Marin, it's okay." Mirajane found some resolve then. "Just… We're here. We're coming for you. As fast as we can. I promise, it won't be long now. You're fine."

But that had to have been the worst moment of Laxus' life. She was  _right there_. But he couldn't help her. It was the equivalent of watching her be poisoned or something and him not be able to save her.

His father had killed him inside before, but this? This was more than numbing. Worse than it. Because he felt it all.

"What's the rule?" Mira called to Ivan then, her voice broken. "At least tell us the rule!"

But why would he do that? And give them a chance to get through. He only carried their screaming daughter all the way back to the house.

After she was out of sight, Laxus just about dropped to the ground. He had to hold out a hand, using the invisible wall to catch himself.

"I'll get them back, Mirajane," he whispered darkly to her. "And then I'll get him back. No one hurts our babies. No one."

 


	5. Chapter 5

"What are we going to do, Laxus?"

He only sat there, back against the invisible wall, hanging his head. "I don't know, Mira. What can we do, but wait for this damn thing to disappear?"

She only stood there, pacing. She couldn't calm back down. He didn't blame her. Watching Marin cry out for them had been brutal.

Laxus had sent the others off, so they could watch the entire perimeter of the place, in case Ivan tried to escape with the kids or something. He and Mirajane were still right where they had been before, her pacing and him trying to come back down.

He couldn't go crazy. That would only waste his power. And time. He had to think logically about it all. Clearly his father was.

"But-"

"Mira, I don't know," he told her again, voice tired and trite. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to-"

"Laxus!"

Both their heads shot up then at the sound. It was coming from the tree line. And it sounded like-

"Laxus! Master! I did not expect to catch up to you so easily!"

Then Freed and Wendy were before them, out of breath, with Carla floating overhead.

"F-Freed?" Mirajane only stared at him. "How-"

"I know you told me not to come, Laxus. And you may punish me however you see fit." Freed fell to his knees before the man as Laxus just sat there in shock, feeling as if he were dreaming. "But after you left, I divided up people to search out the kids. And I happened to go to the train station only to find Wendy and her Exceed returning from their job and I just… Please forgive me!"

If Laxus was shocked, then Freed was down right astounded as, the second he got to his feet, Laxus jumped to his. He was ready to be berated or called incompetent.

Instead, for the first time ever, he heard the words he'd waited to hear his whole life.

"I don't think I've ever loved you more, Freed."

The letter mage blinked. Then Mirajane was jumping and throwing her arms around him, but that was a moot point.

Laxus…loved him. Yes.

"You can take away the wall!" Mirajane drug him forwards, over to the writing along the ground. "Look. Ivan put it up. He has the kids in there! Hurry. Take it away. We need to get to them. Fast."

But Freed was frozen, stuck in a stupor of astonishment, and couldn't move. Annoyed with this, Laxus took to growling then.

"Freed! Take the damn wall down!"

And it was back. His Laxus was back. Quickly, he moved to do as he was ordered as Mirajane let him go.

"Wendy," Laxus found himself saying then. "Go alert the others. They are stationed around the clearing. You too, Carla."

"Y-Yes, Master." Wendy had been fearful of punishment as well, as Freed had made it quite clear to her that Laxus didn't want anyone tagging along. Apparently though, they'd caught up just in time.

Freed was working diligently then as Mirajane looked over his shoulder, but it wasn't fast enough for Laxus.

"What's the hold up?" he growled after sending Wendy off. "My kids are in there, Freed. They-"

"He's working as fast as he can, Laxus," Mirajane told him with a frown.

"They-"

"I know. But he's doing what he can."

Laxus bowed his had then, shutting his eyes.

He would be there soon. He just needed the girls to hold on for a little while longer.

Not that he had anyway of knowing though that at the very moment he was waiting to get into the house, his father was making his escape out.

"The older girl is knocked out."

Ivan hardly glanced up as he pushed aside the bookcase in the basement of the old building. Behind it, of course, laid a darkened passageway.

"You'd think she'd be smarter," Ivan sighed as Nullpudding came into the basement, the unconscious Haven in his arms. "Taking treats from strangers."

"She ate the whole plate," Nullpudding informed the man. "You think she'll be okay? I put stuff in each cookie."

Ivan grunted. "The younger one must be smarter. I had to literally inject her with the stuff. She refused to eat the cookies I tried to feed her."

Nullpudding went to set Haven on the ground, next to where Marin was passed out.

"And we're leaving the Redfox boy?"

"The wall will go down in an hour. Long enough for us to be far away. I am leaving a few…colleagues behind to greet them in the house though."

Snickering, Nullpudding said, "You are quite vicious, Master."

He grunted. "Carry the younger one and I the older. We should take off now. Hikin will be down eventually, to push the bookcase back. My foolish son. He'll waste time here and I'll be far away with his child. And such a precious one at that. I- Careful!"

Nullpudding had only picked Marin up like a sack of potatoes and moved to toss her over his shoulder. "Huh?"

"It would be a waste to kill her now. Do not be so rough."

"Of course, Master."

Going to lift his oldest grandchild in his arms, Ivan couldn't help the smile that fell over his face.

"Master!"

Both he and Nullpudding froze as, suddenly, the door to the basement was swung open and another one of their cohorts, Tyrosque, came dashing down the rickety old stairs.

"I am taking my leave," Ivan grumbled. "Although…now you can close the bookcase and shut off the light down here. I-"

"They are breaking through the wall, Master." Tyrosque bowed his head. "Your son's friend has shown up and they are beginning to get through. You must hurry and leave! Your time is short."

Ivan took one last look around the tiny basement before nodding. "I expected him to come with him from the beginning. The original purpose of the wall was to keep the children in. I just wasn't expecting him to arrive so quickly. I knew I should have taken the pink haired child. Come then, Nullpudding. We must make haste. And Tyrosque?"

"Yes, Master?"

He grinned. "Give my son an entertaining battle, yes?"

"Yes, Master."

* * *

"This was a great feat, whoever made this barrier," Freed said as he finally finished rewriting the letters. "It was so complex for such a simple rule. No one with a Fairy Tail guild mark. Ha!"

The others had gathered around then and, the second the wall was down, made a mad dash for the house. Natsu, after being taunted with a battle before, took the lead. He went barreling through the backdoor as it just happened to be the side of the house they were on.

"Hey, Ivan! You better come out now! 'cause I'm all fired up!"

Laxus came in behind him, finding himself in an open area. Shoving the Salamander out of the way, he took a deep sniff.

The girls were near.

"Your kid's that way," he told Gajeel as the Iron Dragon Slayer came into the building as well. Nodding towards the right, he said, "Down that hall. Wendy, go with him. I smell Marin over there." He nodded to the left. "Natsu, you take Mirajane. And I'll go get Haven."

"Laxus-"

"Natsu can take you to her, Mirajane," he said simply as he walked off. "Freed, come on."

It was hard to track the scents though, of the girls. They seemed to be everywhere. Natsu headed off one way though and Laxus the other, both hoping they'd be able to weed out old scents.

Gajeel didn't have that problem though. Locke didn't seem to have been moved much. His scent led him right to a single room. He and Wendy were almost to it too, Lily following with Carla, when suddenly, a person literally dropped from the ceiling.

It suprised all four of them, but Gajeel immediately recognized the shadowy movements. He'd fought someone with that magic before.

"Ryos," he growled, but no. It was dark in the hall, but he could tell right off the bat that the person wasn't Rogue. For one, that was a scent he'd have picked up on immediately. And for two, it was a woman that stood before them.

"A slayer?" Wendy whispered, staring in shock. Of course, she knew that there were more Dragon Slayers out there, but to see one… "How-"

"Ha!" The woman, a dark headed one of rather short stature, threw her head back and cackled. "As if. Master would never associate himself with-"

"I really don't give two shits what magic you know." Gajeel came running at her immediately, calling out a spell, the woman not shocked as his arm turned into an iron club. She easily dodged it in the tiny hall, turning to shadows before him. Gajeel only snickered though as that made it easy for him to get around her.

"I'm comin', Locke," he called out.

"Hey!" The woman turned to a shadow then, against the ground, racing after him. She had been told that all the slayers would be wishing for a fight, but apparently, all the Iron Dragon wanted was his son.

Skidding to a stop in front of one of the doors, he wasn't shocked to find it locked. Lily, who'd transformed into his full size form already, pulled the sword from his back.

"Gajeel, look out," Wendy called as she raced after them. The woman had materialized once more, right behind the him. But Lily was there and drew his sword. The woman, not expecting this, didn't have a chance to fall into a shadow again and got the brunt of the blade.

"I will take care of her," Lily said. "Gajeel, can you get into the door?"

He was already ramming up against it. "Locke! If you can hear me, kid, you better get back, huh?"

That time, Gajeel hit it, his hand becoming a club once more, knocking the metal door clear off it's hinge. Lucky for Locke, he'd been smart enough to go cower in the corner.

"Dad!"

He only snickered. "See now? I was the first one to get my kid back. And you guys say that I'm a terrible fath- Boy."

Locke had run to him, tossing his arms around his father, and hugging him tightly. "Dad's it's terrible! They have the girls and they-"

"Yeah, boy, I know." He patted him on the head, his thick hair all matted. "But their father is here. And the damn Salamander. Not to mention Freed, but-"

"They're not here." Locke tilted his head back to stare at him. "They-"

"What do you mean they're not here? Of course they are! Even I can smell 'em. They-"

"They just left," he said. "I know that they did, because that real mean one that came and took Marin before, he came in here and he…he made me be quiet."

"Made you- How?"

Locke just kept talking. "They're taking them away. Through a tunnel. And he said I'll never see 'em again. And if I didn't stop whining and trying to get out, he said that he'd make it to where I'd never get to see you again. That he'd-"

"Did he hurt you?"

"Dad, we have to go!" Locke was insistent then, moving back away from his father so he could see him with only the light of the hallway giving off any light. "Now! He's gonna hurt them and-"

"You talk too much," they heard then, a female voice, as a shadow moved across the ceiling, apparently having escaped Lily and Wendy. When it dropped down, right over the boy, Gajeel didn't even hesitate.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" he yelled as he raised a fist, easily catching the woman as she become visible right above Locke's head. If the boy was any taller, his father would have hit him too.

The attack connected with the woman, sending her flying against the back wall.

"Gajeel!" Lily came rushing into the room. "Are you-"

"Lily!" Locke went to hug him too. "You came."

"Of course, but-"

"I am really tired tonight," Gajeel growled as he glared at the woman, who continued to lay crumpled against the wall. "You have five seconds to tell me where the other kids are before I rip you to shreds. And don't think I won't."

The woman didn't raise her head. "Master is long gone."

"Master?" Wendy poked her head into the room too, Carla coming in as well. "Ivan you mean?"

"You are not worthy to call him that," the woman spat.

"He's takin' 'em down through a tunnel," Locke said as Lily became his smaller self once more. Wendy came to stare at the child. "They-"

"Your face is bruised," she whispered, reaching out to touch the child's cheek gently. He turned his head at the contact.

"You're not listening!"

"What, boy?" Gajeel glanced at him. "If they're not here, fine. Laxus and the others will realize that in a minute and go after them. Trust me, Laxus' nose is just as good as mine. If not better."

"But-"

"Did that man hit you, Locke?" Wendy was still focused on him. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I'm not hurt at all! You get bruises when you go into battle. That's nothing to cry about," he told her. "Right, Dad?"

Gajeel was still glaring at the woman. "You gonna speak? Or what? Don't tell me that you're already down for the count."

Lily snorted. "I am certain that she is the weakest of all of Ivan's followers."

"What you tryin' to say, cat? That he didn't think that he should waste a strong person on me? I'm hurt."

"No," Pantherlily said slowly. "But he was giving us Locke back anyways. She was just a decoy, I'm sure. To tie up your time. If what he says is true and the other children are gone, then he knows Laxus will follow. And quickly. He won't wait around for us to get Locke, is what Ivan assumed. So he put this woman here, hoping that Laxus would leave us behind."

"Foolsih him," Carla remarked. "Gajeel took care of this woman in half the time of a normal victim."

"You mean enemy," Wendy told her.

"Anyone that goes up against Gajeel quickly becomes a victim."

"Carla," Wendy hissed as Gajeel only grinned.

"We take off for the house now, kid," he said, turning from the woman then to look at his son, "and we might just beat your mother back home."

"No," Locke said. "I-"

"Wendy," Gajeel said. "Go seek out the others, huh? If there was a trap for me, I'm sure there will be for them. The Salamander and Laxus can both take care of themselves, but still. Just go help the closest one. We're taking off."

"Stay safe," the young woman told them all before turning to run off once more. Lily glanced after her and Carla for a moment before looking to Gajeel.

"You do not really think that we can keep this from Levy, do you?"

He only grunted. "I can dream, can't I?"

"No!" Locke pulled out of Gajeel's grasp when the man tried to lay a hand on his son's shoulder. "Stop ignoring me!"

"What, brat?" Gajeel was becoming annoyed once more. Glancing down at his son, he said, "What's wrong?"

"We have to go," he said, staring up at his father.

"Locke," Lily sighed. "I know that you are worried about your friends, but trust me, they're fine. Laxus is a force to be reckoned with. Not to mention Natsu is here. And Mirajane. Then you add in Wendy and Freed and, well, there's no need for us."

"But-"

"What he's saying is true," Gajeel said, his voice coming down slightly as he only sighed. He could hear the concern in his son's voice and, though he felt it on occasion, it was not a usual feeling for Gajeel. But it was for Locke. He felt anxiety about many things, most dealing with the other young children in the guild, and, well, his father had long sense giving up trying to talk him out of his feelings. It was best to just explain to him why they didn't matter. "The girls' father and mother will rescue them. Us being around would only slow them down."

"I don't care about that! I-"

"So what? You would rather hold their rescue back because you want to be the hero? That's not something honorable, Locke. Sometimes you have to realize when someone else is better at a job." Lily bowed his head slightly. "I know that it's scary, to think of them as hostages, but Ivan wouldn't truly hurt them. At least I don't think. This has nothing to do with us. If they needed our help, you know I would be the first to give it. But if it wasn't for you, Laxus would not even have let us come this far with them. It was only to rescue you that Gajeel and I came. And now we have. So now we have to step back and let the girls be rescued. You understand."

"Now come on, boy. We get home by sunrise, maybe stop off and get some breakfast at the first place we find serving it, huh? And get a better look at your wounds while we're at it." Gajeel tapped him on the head before looking back at the woman behind them. "You ain't gonna try and stop us?"

She hardly moved. "I was only supposed to keep you from going after Master. He is unconcerned with you."

"Good." Gajeel looked down at his son. "Now-"

"No." He jerked away when his father tried to touch him again.

"Locke-"

"No. I'm going to get the girls."

"We just explained-"

"I don't care." The nine year old looked up at his father again. "I'm not doing it to be a hero or to come out on top. And I don't care if I'm in the way! Then I'll go my own way! But I told Marin that I would get her home and that I would save Navi and Haven too. So that's what I'm going to do. That's why I'm doing it. Not because I want the glory or something, but because I'm a man now. I'm a mage. A mage of Fairy Tail! And I'm going to going to get my friends back. Neither of you two can stop me."

Lily and Gajeel shared a look then, the former taking to cross his arms as the other only grinned.

"Ge-heh," Gajeel laughed before reaching out to ruffle his son's hair. "You're right, kid. You ain't a boy anymore, huh? You're a man. And if you wanna go track down Ivan, then we're going!"

Locke, having expected more of a resistance, couldn't help the shock that showed on his face. "Really? We can?"

"Of course. That's your future team, ain't it?"

"W-Well, Haven is. Or at least she says so. That she's my leader and-"

"Then you can't leave your leader hanging. And lucky you, the pink haired one was never taken! That's already one down, huh?" Gajeel turned to look at the woman again. "Now get up! So we can really beat you, huh? And then get on our way. Because we're going after Ivan. Nothing you can do to keep us from it!"

Lilly nodded his head as Locke, for the first time in since he had been taken, truly grinned.

"And then," he told the boy, "we will discuss your readiness to just become a follower instead of a leader."

Gajeel laughed again. "Been talkin' to him about that for a long time now. Don't think nothing can change his mind about that one."

But Locke didn't care what they said. He hardly heard them.

He was going to save Marin and Haven! Because they were a team. And in a team, no man gets left behind!

Or woman. He had a feeling in his case, it would always be women. But that was okay. 'cause friends were friends. And he and Haven were the best firends that friends could be.

 


	6. Chapter 6

"She was here," Laxus whispered as Freed only stood behind him, in the doorway to the bedroom. "I can smell her all over this place."

"What is it?"

"Must have been a bedroom. She was here recently." Laxus glanced around. "Not anymore though. Come on."

"Where to now?"

He shook his head. "The scent is going cold. I don't… Maybe there's a shed or something on the property? I don't-"

"So the fun has finally arrived, huh?"

Freed and Laxus both glanced up at the sound of another person, coming from the doorway. When he saw a man there, dressed in silver armor, Laxus only growled.

"I don't have time for shit," he grumbled as he turned and walked towards the man. Without giving it much thought, his arm became entangled in lightning, his canines becoming more pronounced. "I don't have time for you. I don't have time for whatever stupid magic you use or whatever stupid lesson this is going to teach me. I have to go get to my kids."

The man tried to dodge him, but Laxus hand just closed around the other man's neck. Lifting him straight up, Laxus glared at him.

"You're gonna take me to my damn girls. Both of them. Now. And then you're going to take me to my father and you're going to watch as I rip the damn entrails from your little leader and spread them across the floor. And then, just because I have that sorta kink, you're gonna lick up all the blood from the floor as I watch. So talk. Else I'll go ahead and pull yours out while I'm at it. Trust me. I'm pretty wild today."

He had to slacken his grip some then, so the man could speak.

"Reequip," the man whispered, one of his hands, which was about level with Laxus abdomen, suddenly had a sword with it. He was trying to skewer Laxus. Trying to skewer a dragon. Ha.

"You think your damn weapons have an affect on me?" Laxus threw him then, back out the doorway to where he hit the wall out there in the hallway. "Damn it, just for that, you lose."

"L-Laxus, I can take him," Freed spoke up. "And you can go find the girls. I-"

But it was too late. The whole fucking day, since he woke up that morning to find that some letters had come in about Natsu, once again, destroying a town a week earlier, to Haven being a brat, to him losing both of them and now…now this? Now he was having to play games with what? Some of his father's trainees?

It was laughable.

He was going to kill somebody.

"Did you touch them? Huh? Were you near them?"

The guy was starting to get up, but Laxus didn't want that. He didn't even need magic then. He was going to beat the guy to death with brute force. He didn't still train for nothing.

Laxus kicked him in the side when he tried to get him. This seemed to shock the guy, but just as quickly, Laxus was stomping on him, taking his frustrations out on him.

"How could you fucking do that? She was crying! And you fucking let her cry? You're fucking scum. I'm going to fucking kill you. I'm going to fucking kill all of you. I'm-"

"Laxus!'

His breath was coming out in pants then, foot still poised then to come down on the guy's head. He was going to crush his skull in. He'd crush all of their skulls. And then, drenched in their blood, he'd go to Ivan and let him see that it didn't matter who he got, who he recruited. Laxus would always reign supreme.

"Go away, Mira," he ordered, his voice rough. "The girls aren't here. I'm going to find them."

"That's not finding them!" She had appeared at the end of the hallway, apparently coming up short on her end of the search as well, hands on her hips as she glared at him. Natsu was next to her, staring in shock at Laxus. "And come on. Wendy says that Locke told her Ivan took them down a tunnel or something. We have to look for it."

He shook his head, still glaring down at the guy. "I'm going to kill them."

"And what? Let Ivan get further with the girls? Now come on."

Freed came closer then, laying his hand on Laxus' shoulder. "I think we should go. He is of no use to us."

He let his foot fall then, but not on the man. Still, Laxus spit on the wounded man before turning.

A damn reequip mage and one good with letter magic? What was Ivan trying to do? Mimic Laxus' best fighters? He sure hoped not because the last thing he wanted at the moment was to deal with a bunch of slayers.

"You big idiot. We could have asked him where the tunnel was. But now you've knocked him unconscious.

Or worse. What if Ivan had demons?

Laxus just grunted as Mirajane batted at his arm. "A tunnel, you say?"

"Yeah." Natsu was clearly pumped and Laxus could smell the scent of a woman on him. They must have run into trouble too, finally giving Natsu his chance at a battle. "She went to look for it, but Mira wanted to come find you."

"With good reason, apparently," Mira said as she reached out to touch Laxus arm. He allowed that because, well, her touch was always welcome, but he wouldn't look at her. "Laxus-"

"I just want my daughters. I'm tired of chasing people that don't get that kids are off-limits. They just are! And these idiots think that it's a game. That it's all some sort of sick game. Marin's going to have nightmares about this, Mirajane. For weeks. And Haven… I just want my daughters. They need me."

"I know."

"Then let's go find this tunnel, huh?" Natsu banged his fists together. "I took down an enemy of my own pretty easily. Ivan don't keep too good fighters around 'im, huh?"

"You're five seconds away from being in the same boat, Salamander," Laxus grumbled before breaking away from his wife to walk faster. "Come on. Where is the Redfox kid then? He leave?"

"I don't know," Mira told him softly. "Wendy didn't say. I assume so though."

Grunt. Then, "We didn't see them leave the house, so the tunnel must be around here somewhere. And I can smell both kids' scents this way. Come on."

Freed was quick to match pace with him as Mirajane only bowed her head, following. Natsu, who was next to her, gently bumped his elbow against her.

"We got this," he told her with a grin, not liking to see one of his longest friends so upset. "I mean, how far could they have gotten anyhow? We'll track 'em down in no time. And you've seen the mess of these guys left behind that we've made. Ivan don't stand a chance!"

Happy, who was above him, only rang out his usual agreement of, "Aye, sir!"

But Mira couldn't smile. Not then. She didn't think that she'd be able to again until her kids were safely back in her grasp.

"Save your rage, Laxus," Freed told him softly as the man only got his blank face back. "You need not use any of it. I will-"

"You're not even supposed to be here," Laxus grumbled angrily. "When we get to Ivan, he's mine. And that's all I give a damn about."

They ran back into Gajeel not soon after that.

"Noses take us to the same place, or what?" Black Steel joked as Laxus only glanced around the basement.

"Oh, Locke!" Mirajane was down there then too and immediately rushed forwards, over to the child. He only frowned as she leaned down to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You need to go home," she told him with a sigh. "If you don't want to go, Gajeel, let Wendy and Carla take him back. Or-"

"Trust me," Gajeel grumbled as Laxus stared at the bookcase suspiciously. It smelled too much like his girls for his taste. "It's him that wants to stay. Not me."

"I'm gonna go get the girls too," he said as Mirajane only gave him a slight smile.

"I'm sorry, Locke, but- Laxus!"

He only shoved the bookcase to the side, narrowly missing hitting Happy, who had been flying over there.

"Watch it," Natsu complained, glaring at him. "I- Whoa."

Laxus only grunted, staring at the hole in the wall he'd unearthed. "Passageway. No lights. Salamander-"

Without finishing the command, Natsu's hands became ablaze. "Already on it."

"Wow, guys!"

No looked up as Wendy came down the stairs as well, Carla following.

"You found it," she exclaimed. "I-"

"You. Here." Laxus moved to grab Natsu then, rather roughly by the shoulders, before dragging him along. "You're going to light the way. Don't care if your brat comes or not, Gajeel, but whoever's coming, comes now. I ain't got time for anymore shit."

Snorting, Gajeel only said, "Who was giving you any?"

Lily, who was floating in the air near Locke, looked to Mirajane. "He will be fine. And he wishes to see this through. He has to grow up eventually."

Still, she couldn't imagine Levy rightly liking the idea. But she had her own children to worry about in that moment. And with all those wizards around, she highly doubted any harm would come to the little boy.

Or at least she hoped.

"You didn't think that we'd let you leave that easily, did you?"

Just like that, Wendy was being shoved down the stairs as two people appeared in the doorway to the basement. A rather tall man, dark hair covering most his face, dark glasses keeping the rest hidden, while a blonde woman stood at his side, a cocky little grin on her face.

Laxus hardly glanced back. "Take 'em, guys. You want to prove yourself, Locke? Then here's your chance. Me, the Salamander, and the demon are more than fine by ourselves. Come on, Mira."

"Me too," Happy complained as he fluttered after them, down the dark tunnel. Mirajane glanced at the men on the stairs before bowing her head.

"Be careful," she warned all the others, chasing after her husband, hardly hearing the man as he called out his name.

She heard the woman though. Hikin or something.

"Ain't we always?" Gajeel sneered as Wendy only got to her feet, Carla at her side in moments.

"No," Mira whispered to herself, knowing from the look that had been on Freed's face that he was hurt his idol had left him to deal with the enemies. "But then, we wouldn't be Fairy Tail if we were."

* * *

Her bed smelled weird.

That's the first thing Haven thought as she awoke. It didn't smell like hers. It smelled…well…clean. She had a habit of only changing her sheets when Mirajane made her and, the older she got, the less frequently that was, if only because her mother was trying to make her responsible or something silly like that.

Bleh.

Oh, and her head hurt. That was her next thought. It hurt a lot, actually. And her eyes felt droopy.

What had happened?

When she finally forced them open, she was amazed to find that she wasn't at home at all. She was in a completely different room. One she didn't know.

Was she dreaming?

"Marin?" she whispered. There wasn't even a bed for her.

Where was she?

Haven's body felt too weak to get up in that moment, so she only laid there, on her back, staring around the room.

The walls were painted a deep purple color, while the desk and the bookcase in the room were some sort of dark wood. Then the bed sheets were pink, which she usually hated, but at the moment she was more concerned with where she was.

Then something started to come back to her.

"Grandpa," she whispered, sitting up slowly. Her feet weren't even chained anymore!

Where had he taken her? 'cause it certainly wasn't the room she had been in before. It was bigger and, as she found out when she moved to get out of the bed, actually had carpet. Soft, comfy carpet.

Standing slowly, she was shocked to find that she had no chains anywhere. Her stomach did hurt a little though and, upon pulling up her shirt, she found a big bruise from where he had kicked her.

Laxus and Mom wouldn't like that.

"Oh," was all Haven said when she went over to the tiny window in the room. That was why she wasn't chained. They had to be at least three stories up.

But she could still use her magic!

Only…on what?

Going over to the door in the room, she wasn't shocked to find it locked.

Huh.

Did she even want out anyhow? The old man had said he was giving her a dragon lacrima, right? So maybe she should just sit back and wait it out.

What was the worst that could happen?

He had left an inkwell and quill out on the desk, along with paper. Bleh. No. She didn't like writing. It sucked.

And the bookcase offered no reprieve either. Just a bunch of magic books. You didn't get better at magic by reading. You got better by doing!

There was a chest at the end of the bed which, upon opening, she found housed a few toys. A couple blocks, a little toy car, and a stuffed animal.

Bleh.

What did he think she was? A baby?

Shutting the chest, she headed back over to the door. She wasn't sure what to say, but eventually find herself calling out then.

"Hey," she yelled, unsure if anyone was even there to hear her. "I'm awake! And I'd really like my lacrima now! And to see Marin. And Locke and Navi. Then to go home. And I have to go to the bathroom! Grandpa?"

Nothing.

Sigh.

Defeated, she went back to glance out the window again. It was dark out and she couldn't make anything out. When she tried to lift the window, she found that it wouldn't budge.

She was stuck.

Turning then, she pulled a random magic book off the shelf before going back over to th bed. Why had they changed places? Was this his house?

She was busy looking at all the different spells and such that were in the book when suddenly, the door to her room opened.

Haven only stared though as Ivan entered, not moving in the slightest.

"I see you are adjusting well."

"Where are we?" she said after a moment. "And where's Marin? How far are we from Magnolia? 'cause I gotta go home eventually. I can't-"

"There is no going  _home_  child," he told her, his tone a bit harsh. "This is your home."

She looked back at her book then. "Why did we leave?"

"Your father was close."

"So? He'll just come here too."

Ivan grunted. Slowly, he went to pull the chair from the desk in the room over to her bed.

"Do you like your room?"

"There's no toys."

"I put-"

"Those are for babies. I'm not a baby."

He blinked. Then, looking off, he said, "I have been planning this for quite some time. Since you were born, I always planned to some how come into possession of you."

"Like how Gramps raised Laxus?"

That elicited a growl from the man. "Makarov did not  _raise_  Laxus. He turned him against me! He stole him and then-"

"You stole me," she pointed out. "And hey, Grandpa, when am I getting my lacrima?"

"In due time. You-"

"I'm startin' to think that you don't even have it," she grumbled. "That you just took me so that I could come stay with you. And, well, you could've just asked if you wanted someone to spend the night with you. I wouldn't have been mean about it. Although, you really need to get some more toys, I-"

"Would you shut up?" He rose to his feet then, reaching out to grab her by the arm, shaking her roughly. "You talk to much! You have no respect, you little brat! Do you even know what I am doing for you? What I could have done for your father? You all call me mad, claim that I'm the one that's losing his mind! I-"

"You're hurting me!" Haven jerked away from him. "And I ain't never said that you were crazy. I don't even know you. You're the one that ain't ever talked to me. You don't even care about me or have even ever talked to me. But I'm suppose to know you? And care about you? Respect you? You don't make any sense! And if you keep being mean, when Laxus gets here, I'm going to tell him that you're mean. And then Marin and I won't ever come back. And if I find out that you're being mean to her like this too, I'm going to… I don't care about that lacrima! Don't you hurt my sister!"

She thought that he was going to strike her then. He even had his hand poised to do so. But this time she wasn't going to take it lying down!

Raising her hand, she called out a spell before, just like that, a bolt of lighting shot from her palm, striking her grandfather in his stomach.

It was the strongest attack she knew. It had taken down some of the bigger kids at time. But Ivan, being as experienced a mage he was, it hardly effected him at all.

Though it did make him feel one thing.

Rage washing away, he was quickly filled with some sort of…giddiness. And when he grinned after her attack, Haven only frowned. Just like that though, he was leaning over the bed, so that his head was right next to her.

Ew. He wasn't going to kiss her head or something, was he? Laxus used to do that when she was little and she hated it. Yuck.

But he only reached out then, taking both her cheeks in his hands as he stared at her.

"You," he whispered, "are so much like your grandmother. It's… How could Laxus keep you from me?"

Haven turned away, angry at him still. "I don't have a grandmother."

Then again, she hadn't had a grandpa since a few minutes ago, so many she should just be open to all sorts of family members. Although, considering Elfman and Bickslow both already had the crazy uncle role filled, she really wasn't looking for anymore of those.

"I want my lacrima. Or my sister. Or father. And until I get either of those three, I'm not going to talk to you anymore. You're mean and make no sense! You're nothing like Gramps."

That apparently wasn't the right thing to say, as Ivan stormed off then, in an huff and everything, slamming the door behind him. Haven tacked that on as a victory though. He hadn't hit her and she'd even delivered a blow to him.

Then she heard the sound of the door locking behind him and only groaned.

When would Laxus be coming? Because she was more than ready to go back home.

Ivan though left with a bad taste in his mouth. The little brat was getting him all worked up. He couldn't let her get under his skin so much. She was just a child. A pawn. One that he was going to be using to his advantage. He was supposed to be cultivating her! Not…

Ugh.

The house they were in was one of his main ones. Off in a secluded woods, he was free to do whatever he wished there. He mostly just plotted. And stewed. Today though, he wasn't sure what to do.

Laxus had to be coming. He'd bought some time, of course, but still.

By no regards was the place a mansion, but the place was rather expansive and Ivan found himself going to the study in the place to think a little.

He had never thought about having a female child. He'd know from the beginning that he would have a son. Or sons, he thought, at the time. And they were all to be skilled in different forms of wizardry. Now left with only a disappointment, he found that the idea of raising a granddaughter to be even more scary.

"What am I thinking?" he reminded himself with a chuckle as he walked around the study, looking at the wall-to-wall bookcases, glancing at the different titles. "I am only keeping her until the time comes to harvest the lacrima from her."

Until then though, he was stuck with a lot to deal with.

Ah, well. He'd just chain her then, to the bed or whatever, until she learned to behave. To submit. Like a good child. And obedient child. She clearly was strong willed.

Well, no more! He would be a strict master and there was no getting around it. She would do whatever he wanted. That was just the way it had to be.

And once he had her broken, maybe he'd give her a little freedom. Just a tad. She had asked for toys.

"If she behaves," he decided as he made it over to his desk finally, moving to fall into his chair. Reaching out, he ran his finger gently over the lightning bolt shaped pendant he kept there, it being attached to a silver chain. He felt more at peace when it was near. "She can have them if she behaves."

He got the urge then to check in with Nullpudding. The tunnel that they traveled together only led so far before it ended, out in the woods. He assumed that it was used as a hidden passageway, so someone could escape the building if under siege.

He had a carriage waiting, one of his subjects that the helm, giving him at Haven more of an escape than Nullpudding. But considering that the other man was just carrying the younger girl, the unimportant one, Ivan didn't see it as much of a problem.

"If you make it to the other building, fine," he'd told the other man when they were parting ways. "Leave the girl there with the others. I have a few stationed there. Then come join me here."

He never rightly showed favoritism towards any of his help. Why should someone like him do so anyhow? He was the greatest mage of all time!

But...he was a good man to have around.

"Of course, Master," had been his reply.

"And if you do not make it there, that is fine as well. Give Laxus a good fight. But not too good. I want to be the one to crush him."

Hours had passed since that moment and, honestly, Ivan was burning to know how far Nullpudding had gotten, if his son had caught him yet. He had a communication lacrima he could check, but…

No. Nullpudding could hold his own. And even if he couldn't, who cared?

Now that Ivan had the girl he wanted, he wasn't letting her go. Not until he was personally done with her. And judging from that weak lightning strike he'd received before, the two of them had a long way to go before that happened.

 


	7. Chapter 7

"This was fun," Gajeel said as he stood over the two bodies before them. "Workin' with the Master's little pet. Should hang around you more often, Freak- Err, Freed. Haven't seen you get like that in…ever, really."

The man only stood with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring down at the letter mage before him. "I rarely feel the need to become taken by the darkness, but to see someone use Jutsu Shiki against Laxus…"

Gajeel laughed again as Wendy looked over the wounded.

"Come on," he told her. "What use is it to heal them? They're the enemy."

"What he says is true, Wendy," Carla scolded like normal. Locke had taken to just staring up at the Freed in wonder. He had always just see the man as one of the Master's annoying followers. Nothin' special. He was kinda like Elf. You looked at him and didn't see nothing, but he could become something so dark and evil…

It was kinda cool.

"Who cares what they say?" Gajeel only turned to walk out of the basement. "This fight was bogus. Didn't even get a chance to strut my stuff. Come on, Locke. We hurry and we can catch the others. You comin', Lily?"

"Of course." He was still just standing there, in his tiny form, with his arms crossed. "Freed?"

He still had a rather dark glint in his eyes. "Lead the way."

Freed didn't know what it was that had come over him, but when Laxus left him behind, he just…

But part of it was true, he knew. Right? It had to be. Laxus had trusted him to get the job done. Him. No one else. The others were just there becaseu Laxus didn't want them slowing he, the Salamander, and Mirajane down, but Freed, he had to have left him because he had faith in him.

So there was no way that Freed was going to let that faith go to waste!

He'd annihilated the enemy, a blonde, affluent in the same magic as he, and another man, who knew some sort of water magic or something. Freed hadn't paid much attention. He'd only used his darkness to manifest into a demon as well, taking them out without much help from the others.

He didn't need it.

He was the best of the best. Laxus knew that. And that was why he left him behind.

Right?

"W-Wait," he heard then as he headed towards the tunnel, still being revealed as Laxus had thrown the bookcase to the side before. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the blonde woman was struggling to sit up some. Wendy, never rightly liking to leave even an enemy in such a condition, was trying to get her calm again. But the blonde only shook her head.

"You're the man that broke my barrier, yes?" she asked, speaking to Freed. The green haired man only nodded.

"Yes," he said as Gajeel glanced over as well. "What about it?"

"I've never met someone who works as quickly as you do," she told him. "My script is usually-"

"It was not near complex as you are making it out to be," he told her. "And you are not nearly as experienced as you think, if you believe for a second that that would have caused a true mage any hesitance. Now if you wouldn't mind-"

Her head was still spinning, as Freed only minutes before had preformed a Darkness Flare Bomb on her, an attack that he usually on reserved for the most fearsome of foes. Still, her words were clear as she said, "Master will be most displeased with me because of this. And yet… You know so much about letter magic. If I could…study under you, I-"

"Hikin," the other man, who they'd all thought was unconscious up until then, growled. "How dare you? You are filth! To betray the Master in such a way-"

"I'm uninterested anyhow." Freed turned to keep walking then. "You are weak and not worth my time."

"Wow," Gajeel laughed darkly as they started down the tunnel then, darkness swallowing them up. Though he was never rightly scared of it, Locke found himself clinging to his father. "You've never been on that end of things before, Freed."

"What do you mean?"

"You know. The one that got to do the rejecting."

He blinked. Then he shook his head. "There is no telling how deep this tunnel is. And without any light… We must hurry to Laxus side. Quickly now. Track his scent then."

"You took out two baddies, man," Gajeel told him. "That don't give you the right to start bossing me around. Got it?"

Locke held tight to Gajeel's hand then, the man not shoving him off for once, there in the darkness. Maybe he hadn't noticed. It didn't matter anyhow. 'cause…Locke wasn't scared or nothin'! That was just plain silly. He only didn't want to get separated. That was all.

Lily was right next to him though, floating above him. And after a few minutes, they heard Wendy and Carla calling out to them, running to catch up.

Pretty soon, Locke figured he'd be out of the scary- err, not scary tunnel and be back in daylight. Probably in a room where Marin and Haven were being held captive. And maybe, if Master was feeling up for it, he would save the bad guys just for Locke, and he could best them in a fight, showing both girls that he was, pretty much, one of the best mages ever.

Which usually wasn't something he cared about. At all. But Haven constantly put him down on the fact that she was, self-proclaimed mind you, stronger than he was in every aspect off magic. And to shut her up, just once, would be nice.

Oh. And he really hoped the girls were safe too. It might not have seemed like it, but he really was worried about them. He loved them. They were his best friends. He'd known them his whole life. He couldn't imagine going back home without them. And he didn't want to.

* * *

"Fuck."

"What?" Mirajane frowned at Laxus as they walked along. They'd only just come to the end of the tunnel, it coming to an end rather abruptly with a rope ladder, leading up to a hatch. Upon opening it, they had found that they were in the middle of a forest. Natsu and Laxus both had been able to pick up the trail of both girls once more, however, and they'd followed it for some time.

Suddenly though, they'd come to a stop.

"The trails diverge," Laxus said as Happy's wings disappeared and he landed on the ground.

"What does that mean?" the Exceed asked, glancing up at his master.

"It means," Laxus growled, "that Haven went one way and Marin went the other."

"What?" Mira made a face. "Why-"

"Look at the ground. See these footprints here? They're one of Ivan's men's," Laxus said, pointing at them. "Glance over there. Wheel marks. And it reeks of a horse. He had a carriage waiting. Ivan and Haven went that way. And are probably miles away now. Shit."

"W-What should we-"

"You, cat," he said, pointing at him. "You stay here, wait for the others. Tell them to stay too, if not go after Natsu. If Wendy's still around though, have her stay here, to help if anyone gets injured. This is like home base. She's not to leave it. Salamander, you take Mira after Marin. Quickly. I don't like her not being with Ivan. I don't…I don't know, but I gotta bad feelin' about it."

"Laxus-"

"Mira, you have to go get her. One of us needs to get Haven. And since she's with Ivan, it's going to be me." He turned then to look at her, coming to press a kiss against her head. "You get our baby back, alright? You know I would if I could but… It just has to be this way. You're more than capable of it. Leave Ivan to me."

"Just be safe," she said to which he nodded. Then he glared at Natsu.

"You bring my wife and daughter back here when you get them. This is the meet up point. And if either of them are hurt, I'll skin you alive, Salamander."

He only flashed Laxus a grin. "Let me go then, huh? Come on, Mira. We've already lost light. Now we're losing ground!"

"Go." Laxus turned when she moved to touch his arm. "And cat, you better stay right here. Else I'll-"

"Aye, sir!" Happy gave him a salute, but honestly, he wasn't too thrilled about being left behind. He never rightly liked being without Natsu. Laxus only tossed his pack, which had medical supplies in it, at the cat, giving him a stern look. He never rightly trusted the Exceeds. Factoring in though that he never rightly trusted anyone though, that wasn't hard to believe.

Then with a huff, Laxus set off in a sprint, headed after the carriage. He had a lot of time to make up for. And, honestly, a lot of his energy had already been spent that day. But morning was fast approaching and he wasn't losing heart so easily. He was going to get his girls back.

There was just no question about that.

Natsu and Mirajane set out too then, in the opposite direction, leaving Happy all alone. He only sat there on the ground, waiting.

The others would be coming soon…right? He sure hoped so. Not that he was, like, codependent on Natsu or anything. No way! But…well…

Over half an hour had passed before the others showed up. Boy was Happy glad to see them though. The forest was rather dense, hiding most of the moonlight, and being alone in the dark hadn't been fun.

"The others went after the girls," he told them. "He said that you guys should go after Mirajane and Natsu, Gajeel. Not you though, Wendy. You have to stay here and heal anyone, when they get back. Which means you too, Carla."

The female Exceed had noted the change in pitch at the end of his words and it made her roll her eyes, coming to land next to him.

"Let's get to it then. The Salamander reeks so much, he ain't hard to trail." Gajeel tapped Locke on the head. "You still wanna come along, kid? You can wait here and the girls'll still think of you as the hero."

"No." He shoved his father's hand off when he tried to pat his head again. "I'm going."

"Alright then. Come on, kid. Lily. And Freed-"

"There's no way that I am going to leave Laxus to go off on his own," the man insisted. "I-"

"But you gotta," Happy said, giving him a frown. "He told you to. He's the Master. He-"

"Look, you comin' or what? I ain't letting the damn Salamander have all the fights," Gajeel said. When Freed shook his head, he took off, his son and cat quick to follow.

"How will you even track him, Freed?" Wendy gave him a shake of her head. "If Laxus said to stay here, then I have to. I can't help you."

"You are best going and catching up to Gajeel," Carla suggested. "For such a simple mission, we are overmanned."

"Obviously when he told others not to follow, he wasn't thinking of me," Freed said. "I-"

"Ivan's the one that has Haven. That's who he's going after," Happy told him. "So, I dunno. Maybe it's personal?"

"Yeah, Freed." Wendy took to going over to a tree and leaning against it. "You'll only get lost. And besides, we were already testing Laxus by going against him once. You can risk it again if you'd like, but I'm not. If something happens to Marin or Haven, he's not going to be too agreeable and want to take it out on someone."

Freed bowed his head. "Then I will go after Gajeel. It is what Laxus would want. Yes. Of course."

As he took off in the direction that the Iron Slayer had gone, Carla took to shaking her head.

"If there is not someone odder than him."

"I think it's cute," Wendy said. "To be completely devoted to someone. He clearly cares about Laxus and only wishes to please him. That's a real friendship."

"Well, I hope you never expect me to treat you in such a way," Carla told her to which Wendy laughed. Happy only took to grinning at her.

"I could treat you in that way," Happy said. "In fact-"

"Don't make me banish you from this spot, tomcat."

"Carla," Wendy scolded as Happy only hung his head.

Rejection was harsh, no matter how many times you went through it.

* * *

Gajeel and the others caught Mirajane and the Salamander easily. Locke was out of breath by the time they did, but that was fine. His father only picked him up and sat him on his shoulders.

"No," Locke complained through pants. "I'm not a baby! I can walk. I-"

"Keep annoying me, brat, and I'll leave you out here."

Natsu grinned over at Locke. "Don't worry, buddy. Even Luce needs me to carry her sometimes. Err, a lot of the times."

Mirajane kept walking then, hardly glancing over at him. "You should have stayed behind with Wendy, Locke. This might be dangerous."

"I just said-"

"There's someone comin'," Natsu said suddenly. He had heard Gajeel and the others approaching before, which was why he stopped. But he heard someone else then. "Who-"

"Eh, it's just Laxus' little follower," Gajeel said, matching pace with Mira easily. "Freak."

"Freed."

"Meh."

With a sigh, Mira said, "He'll catch up, Natsu. I only waited for Gajeel because you smelled Locke with him. I really just want to get to my daughter. Could you two please-"

"Alright," Natsu sighed, his fists still ablaze as he walked along, lighting their way. "Was Happy okay all alone, Lily?"

"He seemed excited," the other Exceed said, "when we arrived. Though I am nearly certain that was merely due to the arrival of Carla."

Natsu snickered. "That's my Hap! He never gives up."

They walked in silence for some time after that. It was clear to the others that Mira wasn't up for much joking anyhow. Not that the guys could blame her. It was her daughter's life in the balance.

And Natsu's, if he remembered correctly. At least that was what Laxus had threatened.

"A building," Mira breathed eventually when they reached it. It was much more compact than the other. "Natsu-"

"She's in there," he told her with a nod. "Trail leads straight up there."

"Can smell a lot of other guys there though," Gajeel said as he moved to set Locke off his shoulders. "A bunch. This might not be simple."

"I don't care." Mirajane looked to Natsu. "How do you want to do this?"

He punched his fists together. "I say we go in there swinging!"

"And risk hurting the child?" Gajeel snorted. "You never think, do you, numb nuts?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said that Ivan took off with the other, huh?" Gajeel shook his head. "Then he would have known that Laxus would come after him. So why did he take the other? And leave this one here? He knew if Laxus went one way, Mira would come the other."

"What are you saying, Gajeel? That we should just sit here? I mean-"

"No, Mira," he told her, crossing his arms. "But I don't think that we should all go up there. Just you and me, huh? They might have her hostage or somethin'. Might try and hurt her. And if we can judge off his other followers, Ivan's people ain't too bright. The Salamander come in there, mess things up, blowing off steam, they might get spooked. Let's- Hey! Locke!"

Gajeel had to break out into a sprint then, after his son, who'd broken away from them and was running towards the house. The others gave chase too then, but it was Lily who was gaining on him the fastest.

But Locke didn't care. They were all just wasting time! Marin was in there, all scared and stuff, and they were going to what? Stand outside and analyze the situation? That wasn't right! Not at all.

As he was running though, suddenly the earth beneath his feet seemed to tremor. Then, suddenly, it shot up. Literally. With him on it!

"Whoa," he whispered, barely keeping from running right off the edge of the plateau that was created.

"Locke!" Lily, who had been closing in on him, wasn't prepared for this and came slamming into the raised earth.

"What the hell?" Gajeel growled as he came skidding to a halt. "I-"

"You like my little trick?" Out of the shadows by the house then came a casually dressed man, arms clasped behind him back as he grinned over at them, only the light emanating from Natsu's hands allowing anyone to see anything. "Careful before I shoot the boy higher."

"D-Dad," Locke called down. "Wh-"

"Stay there," Gajeel yelled. "Lily-"

The cat had already recovered. "On it."

Mirajane only stared at the man though. "Where's my daughter? In that house? Then you had better give her to me. Now. I'm tired of running and-"

"Oh, you can have your daughter. She is not the one that Master wants, as it turns out. But, see, it's so hard for any of us around here to get any good practice these days, only having one another to go up against. And Master loves for us to get as much in as we can. So if you wouldn't mind-"

"Gladly!" Natsu came speeding after the guy then, who only raised a hand, a rock wall forming from the ground. Natsu came to a stop, almost running into it.

"Coward," he said, frowning. "You think you're special? I've faced this magic before. And guess what? I- M-Mira."

He stopped speaking, noticing the change in the woman. Lily, who'd rescued Locke from the raised earth, didn't drop him back to the ground, though the boy fought him. He noticed Mira's change too, the aura flowing from her as she stood in the middle of the clearing, head bowed slightly.

"You think that this is a game? That taking my daughters is a joke? A chance to have some fun?" Her voice was changing, before her body even began to. And when she lifted her head, Natsu knew it was too late. Not a moment later, Satan Soul stood before them, even Locke being shocked to see it.

He'd never seen Haven and Marin's mom like that before.

"Wha-"

"I think," Lily told him softly. "That we're safer over here."

"You think that you have an advantage on the ground?" Mirajane, in her new form, took to the air easily, wings giving her flight. "Then how about the air."

"Gee hee." Gajeel grinned, watching as Mirajane, with her enhanced speed, easily grabbed the man up, taking him to the air too. This seemed to shock the man, but not as much as when she tossed him from her.

"Soul Extraction!"

And then, before the man had a chance to hit the ground, a ball of energy formed in her hands, directed straight for him.

"I think," Gajeel called to Natsu who only stared with disdain. "I like the Master's wife more and more every second."

"Well, she is cheating," he said. "I was going to get him."

Mira was done with that man then, it was obvious, as he hit the ground with a loud thud. Not landing, she only directed her voice to the house then. In a booming voice, she yelled.

"Who's next?"

And as Freed, who had finally emerged from the forest, having caught them, heard the demonic tone that even he himself had had to submit to before, he knew that he would be of no use to any of them. None of them would be. The enemy was now at the hands of the she-demon. He hoped their souls rested in peace.


	8. Chapter 8

"Ms. Mira sure is scary," Locke whispered as Lily landed.

"Extremely," he agreed with a slight sigh. "But I fear at a time like this, that is exactly what we need."

"I said," Mira was calling then as she touched down on the ground herself. "To come out here! Now! Or do I have to come in there?"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu fist pumped, hands flaming. "We're gonna have to go in there, aren't we now, little bud- Oh yeah. Man, life sure is different without Happy. I think I get what you're going through now, Mirajane."

"Shut up, flame breath," Gajeel said as he only crossed over to where Mira was standing then. "I think we're going to have to go in there."

"Fine." She was still in her Satan Soul form and didn't seem like she was planning on coming out of it any time soon. Which was pretty bad news for any of the guys, as that made their powers worthless. In that moment, Mirajane was ready to take on the entire world if that was what it took.

"I have arrived," Freed announced then, coming out of the forest. "Not that it appears that I am needed here, but Mirajane, might I remind you that you need not worry yourself. Allow us to handle this for you. I'm sure Laxus would prefer it this way, honestly. I-"

"Think she's just ignoring you, bro," Natsu told him with a sigh as Mira headed up to the building. "Which shouldn't be shocking, considering she just ignored the fact that I totally had dibs on that last guy."

Locke, free from Lily then, chased after Mirajane and his father as he headed into the house. "Come on, Lily! Let's go too! We're gonna save Marin and then we're going to head after Haven!"

"Something tells me that I need to discuss geography and speed with you one more time, Locke," the black Exceed sighed, heading after him.

The building wasn't like the others. It wasn't styled as a house at all, but rather, some sort of storage facility. There was an open area where they entered and then just hallways branching off from there, no doubt leading to different rooms and areas.

And there were three enemies waiting for them there.

"Take care of them, Gajeel, Freed," was the command from Mirajane as she grabbed Natsu's arm, tugging him along. "You lead me to my daughter. Now."

"Ha! Y-Yes, ma'am," he said. "But sheesh. You can be as scary as Erza when you want to be."

"These chumps? Ain't hardly a contest here," Gajeel said as one of the men tried run down Natsu and Mirajane as they headed down a hall. Pantherlily only took to the air then, easily catching the man and diving on him, managing to tackle him to the ground.

"I wouldn't make assumptions so early," one of the three there, the only woman, said as she took to crossing her arms and glaring at them. "We might prove to be quite the hindrance in your plans."

"Hardly," Freed said. Gajeel only took picking at his nails.

"Tell you what, Locke. Me, Freed, Lily. We've had our feel already. How 'bout you take one of these guys, 'kay, kid? Even let you have the woman, if you want."

Freed snorted, holding his head up higher. "Both Mirajane and Laxus… Do I seem weak to them?"

"Really not in the mood for you, Freak- Err, Freed," Gajeel said as he nodded at the other person. "Locke has the woman, Lily that guy. You want this other one or should I take him?"

"I will, of course! I will take all of them and prove my greatness to Mirajane once more, so she can sing my praises to Laxus!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll help the brat out, I guess."

"I don't need help!" Locke had come to approach the woman, who only gave him a slight smile in return. Glaring up at her, he merely said, "You took my friends! And that's not okay! That's wrong. You're gonna be sorry!"

"Gee hee." Gajeel took his own stance, staring over at his son. "Don't be all talk now, kid. You've made some pretty serious threats here. Be ready to back them up!"

Locke nodded his head as the woman only snickered.

"You're just so cute," she said. "I wasn't told that-"

"Iron Fist!"

"Low blow, kid, hitting while someone's in the middle of speaking," Gajeel said as his son rose his hand, it turning to iron before colliding with the woman in front of him, hitting her squarely in the stomach. "Then again, given who we're dealing with, it's probably an appropriate response."

"Iron, huh?" The woman didn't absorb the hit, but it definitely didn't bring her down either. She only laughed again, which Gajeel really didn't like. He could see Freed still stewing, but fighting his own enemy, and Lily had transformed into his true size, if only to beat the man before him. Gajeel honestly thought he could make quick work of all three, but if it would only be better for the kid, letting him get some real, in battle experience in, fine.

Even the Master's brat didn't have that yet!

"You know the only thing that can beat iron?" The woman jumped away from them suddenly, apparently quite nimble on her feet. Locke wasn't even able to clock her movements as she yelled out, "Fire!"

He, apparently, wasn't as prepared as Gajeel had hoped, as he didn't move in the slightest. Not giving his son a chance to be bathed in the purple flames the leapt from the woman's hands towards him, he sprang into action.

"You're fast," the woman observed as Gajeel, who'd grabbed Locke around the middle, had jumped up into the air, and was currently hanging upside down, his feet blades in the soles of his boots coming out to pierce the ceiling and hold him up.

"Dad," Locke complained as he only held the boy upside down, out of harms way. "You're not even giving me a chance."

Grunt. "You want a chance, brat?"

And just like that, he dropped him. Locke was struggling to his feet as the woman moved to attack him again.

"When you're ready to respect your elders," Gajeel complained, crossing his arms as he stayed stuck to the ceiling, making a face down at his son. "I might think about helping you."

Locke didn't even look at him as he crossed his arms in front of himself, taking the next round of flames the woman shot at him. "Elder, huh? You get old, Dad?"

"You shut it, brat! Before I team up with this woman, just to take you out!"

"Gee hee," he mimicked as the woman's flames stopped, if only for a second. To her, he only said, "You're just like Navi and her dad. But weaker. Than him anyhow. And if I'm ever gonna be good enough to take him on one day, I gotta beat tons of people like you first. Isn't that how it goes? Then fine. Your flames can't melt my steel. So you might as well not even try!"

"You spend too much time with Erza," Gajeel complained. "All these words."

Lily, who was making quick work of the takeover wizard before him (the best the man could accomplish was some sort of big cat, he was about par with Lisanna, which wasn't all that great), laughed slightly.

"There's no going back now, Gajeel. He's involved in this fight and you're going to have to let Levy know that something happened."

"Something tells me," Gajeel sighed. "That the idea of ever keeping this a secret died a long time ago."

* * *

"Man, Mirajane," Natsu complained as they continued on through the halls of the place, her knocking out any enemy who even came close to them. "You just don't want me to have any fun at all, do you? Why didn't you take Gajeel along with you then? And let me at least fight those guys back there?"

She didn't answer as they raced down the halls. There was no real need to do so. She liked Gajeel enough, fine. They'd formed some sort of friendship over the years, but still. If it came down to him or Natsu, the choice was easy for her.

"I had to leave my little buddy behind, Navi gets left all alone at the park, I missed out on going on a job. My day's been horrible."

He was trying to lighten Mirajane's mood, but she was hardly listening to him. Only focused on one thing.

The last time she had seen Marin, she had been calling out to them, scared and confused as to why they couldn't protect her. Why one stupid wall would keep them from saving her, when they'd always promised to never let harm come to her.

The only thing she wanted in that moment was to get to whatever room they were keeping her in and show her that it was okay, that she had come for her.

That she would always come for her. No matter what.

Most everything else, included Natsu's complaints, were pushed far from her mind then.

That included, too, thoughts of Haven. That was just the way it had to be. Laxus had faith enough in her to rescue Marin and she had faith in him to save Haven. It was just the way it had to be. If they had both gone after one, there was no telling what would happen to the other.

She had faith in Laxus. And she had even more faith in his love of their daughters.

When they got to a certain door, Natsu skidded to a stop, taking a deep sniff.

"She's in there."

Mira didn't even open the door. She just blew it away, a dark purple ball shooting from her palm and blasting it off.

"M-Mira," Natsu said, frowning. "You could have hurt her!"

She only headed into the room, not glancing once at him. There were two men in there, one a big burly guy, and the other a very slim, nerdy looking one.

Natsu punched his fists together, flames shooting from them. "Give us Marin now and-"

"You have ten seconds," Mirajane said, voice still dark and tainted as she stared them down, tail swishing. "Don't test me. This is the weakest of my demons and I've had them held down for so long, that if I release Halphas or Sitri, I'm no so sure I can wheel them back in before your life is vanquished."

But they wouldn't listen. And Mira was still so keyed up that she wasn't willing to make conversation.

She didn't change into any of her other demons though. It was just too simple. With a slayer and a demon, Mira really wasn't sure who could stop them.

It was so intense, the anger that she felt coursing through her, that she didn't notice at first, the noise coming from the corner of the room. It wasn't until both men, one some sort of maker (she couldn't remember what his element was, nor did she care) while the other had some sort of dark magic or something.

Someone was crying.

That's what she thought at first.

And then she noticed that Natsu hadn't been complaining about her taking all the baddies on without him.

Because he was in the corner of the room, trying to comfort her daughter.

"Marin," Mira whispered as the man only lifted the five year old into his arms. Her arms fell to her side, standing there, as slowly, a magic circle appeared above her head. Then she was deforming once more, her transformation ending, the scar over her eye being the last thing to disappear.

But it didn't matter to Marin what she looked like. All she knew was that she had never see anything so…scary as the demon that her mother had just been, and only hid her face in Natsu's neck.

"Hey, now," he said, frowning down at her. "We're here. You're safe. And we got your friend too. Locke. And your dad went to go get your sister. So stop crying, huh?"

But she couldn't. Not with that… _thing_  in the room with them.

Mira, not understanding that it was her that was still causing her daughter such distress, and came closer, her joy in finding her overwhelming the woman's senses.

"Marin!" She moved to take her from Natsu. "I-"

"No!" She held tight to the man, even as he moved to hand her off. Honestly, she was getting too old to be carried as it was. "No, Natsu!"

"What?" Mirajane frowned. "Come here. It's me, Marin. I-"

"No!"

He just glanced over at the men then, that were still passed out on the ground. "We need to get out of here."

"But-"

"I think you scared her, Mirajane," he said with a slight shrug. "You are pretty fearsome when you're in one of your stages."

"Marin, have you never seen me as…" Mira was frozen then, too shocked to move. "You've never…"

But that wouldn't make sense.

Would it?

She couldn't remember the last time that she did one of her demon takeovers in battle, but she did it sometimes for training purposes, which, honestly, was very rare. And the idea of Marin being around in one of those times didn't seem likely.

Had she honestly never shown her children her demon forms?

But Natsu was right, of course. At the moment, all that mattered was that they had Marin. And Mira knew that with her so close, so accessible, finally, that she was safe.

Now she had her other daughter to worry about.

"Marin!"

Natsu was accosted the second they came walking out of the hallways and back to the open area by Locke, who literally tried to tackle the man. Marin, who was still upset by the presence of her mother, did giggle a little at that.

"Locke," she giggled as Natsu moved to drop her on the ground.

"What happened here?" the Salamander asked as he glanced around. Lily was in his tiny form once more, arms crossed, as he glared at Gajeel, who was making a point of not looking back at him.

"The hell you mean?' Gajeel grumbled.

"Nothing," Lily told them all tensely.

"Mirajane." Freed was at her side in seconds. "You are uninjured, yes? And you, Marin?"

"Fine," Mira whispered, still staring at her daughter, who was listening to Locke recount his apparent victory over one of the women passed out on the ground. Judging from the looks on both Lily and Gajeel's faces though, something more had happened than what the boy was saying. "Aren't you, Marin?"

She glanced at the woman before moving to hug Locke tightly, as if to use him as a shield.

"What's wrong?" Locke patted her on the head. "It's just your mother."

But it wasn't. Marin wanted her father and her real mother because there was no way that that…thing was her mother.

No way.

"It's light out," Natsu observed as he glanced out one of the windows. Not glancing at the others, he only asked, "You think Laxus got to his father yet?"

"They'd taken a carriage," Freed said slowly. "And Laxus is quite the runner, but he has traveled a great distance already. There's no telling how far Ivan went in that carriage."

And just like that, they were all reminded of what Mira couldn't forget.

Half of the battle was over, fine.

But another half had yet to start.

* * *

Haven laid against the ground, not opening her eyes in the slightest.

"Get up! You think that your enemies will show you any weakness? Huh? They won't! they'll devour you."

"It's not fair," she moaned against the floor, which she'd been forced down onto by the other man. He hadn't even used any magic against her. Only struck her a few times. Laxus never trained with her so violently. "You're too strong. I-"

"And you think that if they're stronger than you, they won't try and kill you? No! They will. You want to be a Dragon Slayer? Ha! You are not even worth of the title of a mage, much less such a prestigious one as that. Why would I ever waste my lacrima on such a  _stupid, worthless_ little girl? Huh? I-"

"I'm not worthless!"

And with that, one of Haven's hands shot up, a bolt of lighting spring forth from it to strike Ivan, the man standing over her with a sneer though that was quickly turned to a scowl.

"What did I tell you?" he growled as the bolt struck him. "You're power has no affect on me. That is the weakest-"

"Then what do you want me to do?" she volleyed back to him. Pushing to her feet though it hurt, she turned to shove him, which, of course, was fruitless. "You're too big! You're too strong! I can't-"

He only reached out, pressing a hand to her head before shoving her away, making the eight year old fall back on her butt. "You're embarrassing yourself, child."

Haven only sat there, perplexed. She'd been forced to stay in her rooms for hours. Promptly at sunrise though, one of her grandfather's followers had come for her, chaining her hands, before leading her down to the dining room for some toast.

"Just toast? You poor or something?" she asked her grandfather, who was seated with only a cup of coffee and newspaper. He hardly glanced up at her.

"Today is a very telling day, brat," he said after a moment. "Eat up. You and I are going to spar."

Which Haven was totally down for. Sparring was great! She always took down Navi and Locke. And when she didn't, it was just because they were cheating!

In any event, she was pumped.

…until her grandfather proved to be more than a worthy opponent. He was an overpowering one. He would shove her down, hit her, strike her. And nothing she could do would help. She was defenseless against him as they stood in an empty room with a hardwood floor, which hurt every time she fell down on it.

"You're the one embarrassing yourself," she growled finally. "You're beating up on me! I'm just a kid."

"Just a what?"

"A kid! And I-"

"Not you," he mocked before shaking his head at her. "Chains for you once more. Then back to your room. You're done for the day."

"That's not fair! You're not playing right. You're bigger and stronger and…and… I wanna go home! Now! I don't want my lacrima anymore." And then, because she was bruised and, honestly, felt like she was broken, the tears started. "I want my mommy!"

Ivan growled, shoving her to the ground one more time before walking out of the room.

Brat.

So maybe he hadn't woken up in the best of moods. He would give her that. But tears were just not something he would put up with.

He left her alone for most of the day, having one of his followers lock her right back up in that room.

No new toys that day.

He fed her no lunch, as punishment, but did worry of her health. He had beaten her rather badly. For dinner, he had her brought down to dine with him.

She came sporting a black eye and a scowl.

"Not hungry?" he asked as, after the man escorting her left, Haven only turned her head from the plate of food sat in front of her. "Child?"

"That's not my name."

"Your name is whatever I want it to be."

"My name is Haven."

"And what a stupid name at that."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You named Laxus. And that's a way dumber name than mine!"

Growling. "I did not  _name_  the brat."

"Then who did? Huh? You're his daddy, right? Or have you been lying and-"

"Do you want to get hit again?"

That shut her up. Looking down at her lap, Haven fell silent for a good minute as, after taking a breath, Ivan merely went back to his dinner.

She was starting to notice some odd things about the man. He seemed to change his moods quite swiftly. Worse than her! One minute he would be happy, the next sad, then angry, and just like that, happy again. It made no sense. It was almost like he was crazy or something.

"My wife named him."

Haven didn't look up. "You have a wife?"

"I had a wife. She is… She is no more."

Slowly, she found herself saying, "That's sad."

"To some."

"Is that how come you're so lonely?"

Ivan about dropped his fork at that. "What?"

Fearing being hit again, Haven kept her eyes down. She could feel his boring holes in her though.

But suddenly, the man that had brought her from her room came rushing in.

"Master. There has been a breech on the perimeter. The fence has been-"

"Ah." With that, Ivan stood. "Come, Haven."

"What?" She frowned, glancing up at him.

Ivan only grinned, turning to walk out of the room. "It seems that your father has arrived."


	9. Chapter 9

"Ivan," came the thundering roar from outside the house. More noticeable even than the exhaustion in the voice was the anger. Not a moment later, the front door was blasted off. "I've come for Haven, but if it takes your life, then fine. I'll have it. I'll have them all. Every last one of you."

The second Laxus got in proximity of the property, he'd expected to be accosted with all of his father's followers. But so far, he'd encountered no one. And as he stood there, in the entrance to the home, he found no one there at all.

"Hiding won't help," he growled loudly as he continued on into the darkened building. "I can smell you. I will hunt you down. If you wanted me, wanted my damn lacrima, you should been a fucking man and fought me for it. Not been a damn coward and gone through my children. You don't get it, do you? You've never gotten it. Gramps would have given his life for you and you wasted it. You resented him for it. I would have done whatever you wanted, and you tossed me aside. Because I was fucking weak. Who's weak now, old man? Huntin' down little girls? You're a fucking disgrace. And when I leave here, it's gonna be with your damn head! You're no longer worthy of not only love, but also life."

Still, no one came. Laxus could sense it though; magic power. It was everywhere.

"Just come the fuck out!" His throat was raw then from the running and screaming, but he shouted anyhow as he walked through the building, trying to trace his daughter's scent. He was alone and he knew that there were many others around. Not that he was fearful.

"Forever," he whispered.

If it meant getting Haven back, he could go on forever.

"Gramps used to have a rule," Laxus growled as he headed down a dark hallway. "When any of us acted up in the guildhall. He'd give us to the count of three to do whatever it was that he wanted or else we'd face his wrath. The only one dumb enough to ever let him get the far was the Salamander. So, you as dumb as Natsu then? 'cause I'm telling you, you have three seconds before you see the true power of this lacrima you put in- Haven!"

There was a loud cry then, from a room close by. Rushing to it, Laxus flung the door open.

"Haven…"

He came closer, but almost immediately dropped to his knees right after. He thought he was going to be sick.

"Her body rejected the lacrima," he heard then, from behind him. But his body wouldn't work. He couldn't even turn away. He wanted to turn away. Why couldn't he turn away? "So I did this as retribution. Just remember, Laxus. Had you given me yours from the beginning, there would have been no need for this."

His brain shut down as he only sat on his knees over his daughter's body, watching the crimson colored liquid pool underneath. Her clothes were ripped and he could see bruises everywhere.

He had been too late. He'd failed. He'd…

It was then, when her eyes opened that he experienced the worst of it. Because they locked with his and…and…

"Daddy."

His whole body was shaking. What was…

"Daddy'll fix it." He was having to blink quickly then, as the tears welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision, blocking her blue rises from his. "I'll take you to Wendy and Mommy and you'll be okay. You're- The fuck?"

In his distracted state, someone had managed to tackle him fully the ground, his arms being restrained just as quickly. And when he blinked again, it was all gone. The room wasn't so dark and the spot where…where Haven had been was empty.

"To think," he heard his father, who had been speaking before, laugh from behind him. The person restraining him was someone different though, someone lighter. Not that it would have mattered.

Laxus easily threw them from his back before trying to push up.

But it was no use. They'd managed to get some sort of cuffs on him.

He shoved up using only his knees then.

"Ivan!"

"Falling for fake imagery. A master? You? Ha."

"You're fucking sick," Laxus growled, turning to face him. "You think you damn cuffs will stop me? Light-"

"Lightning blah, blah, blah." His father chuckled, standing in the doorway of the room then, grinning at him. "You think I'm that foolish? The cuffs cancel out your magic powers, boy. Once again, love has proven a valuable weakness."

"Where is she?" he growled. "'cause you might have me cuffed, dumbass, but I can still-"

"Do you want your daughter back or not? Honestly, Laxus, after going through all this work, do you really think that I have no plan at all?"

He kept glaring. "My strength doesn't only rely on my magic."

"As if I do not know that? Come then. You act like a good little boy, I'll take you to her. Then the deal can be broached from there."

"What do you want? Money? Take it. The guild? It's yours. It's just a damn building. Are you really that foolish? My people will just leave. Come to whatever new guild I start. They won't serve you! No one worth anything serves a man like you. You're-"

"We can battle wits, Laxus," Ivan said as he only stood there, in his usual purple attire, their styles far too similar for his son's taste. "Or I can take you to see the child. She's been quite unruly at times, but her and I? I think we've come to form a bond."

"What are you talking about?"

"I gave her the things she wants, Laxus."

His gaze darkened. "If you… _touched her_  I'll-"

"You disgust me," he said. "What a depraved mind to immediately go there. I might have, oh, roughed her up a tad, but she's only a child. Of my own blood! I would never-"

Laxus spit at him. "You're not worthy of my blood."

"You can behave or you can stay here until you do."

Narrowing his eyes at the man, he said, "I already agreed to your damn trade. I'll give you whatever you want. Name it. Just so long as I get Haven."

"That's impossible."

"Then there's no deal! She-"

"That's impossible, boy," Ivan sighed, unclasping his hands from behind his back so that he could reach up to stroke at his beard, "because the trade is for some very tangible."

"Name," Laxus growled, "it."

"Your lacrima."

He didn't even blink. "Take me to her first. And then you can do whatever you want. I'm gonna watch her though, leave the property and run off towards where the main camp is. It's part of the rules. And you can never touch her. Or Marin. And Mirajane gets the guild. You never set foot in Magnolia again. You send my body there though, after… After. So Mira can bury me."

Ivan only grunted. "Fine. Come then. Before you hurt anymore of my minions."

Laxus didn't even glance back at the man he'd thrown from him, who was still laying up against a wall, crumpled in pain. Grunting, he headed after his father.

"What sort of cuffs are these anyhow?"

"Does it matter?" Ivan asked. "What would you do with the information anyhow? You'll be dead before you have the chance to share it with anyone."

Snort. Then, "How did you get away with them? From the park?"

"It was simple. Not a lot of people were around. Just illusionary-"

"After that. You took three kids. Two of which aren't exactly light anymore."

"I had Nullpudding help me out."

"He's around?"

"He's currently off delivering your other daughter to one of my other locations."

Laxus wanted the information then and had to keep anger from invoking anything in him. He had to remain focused.

"Why did you separate them? I mean, what if I had gone after Marin and Mira after Haven?"

"That wouldn't have happened."

"Why do you say that?"

"You didn't just come for your daughter. We both know that. You came so that you and I could have this moment."

"You're full of it, old man," Laxus grumbled. He couldn't help it. "Don't you get it? Gramps is dead. And as far as I've been concerned, you are too. I have a real family now. I have my girls and my woman. And my guild. You… You're broken. I don't get it, but you are. For you to not understand how important my children are to me… You're damaged. Worthless. You can have my life, my lacrima. Buy whatever you want with it. But you'll be just as soulless as ever."

He didn't even flinch as Ivan reached over to grab the back of his neck, didn't resist at all. He just had to hold on, get to Haven and then…

"Now tell me, son," Ivan cackled. "What would your mother say, to hear you talk like this to your father?"

Laxus kept it together, but still found himself growling out, "You're not even fit to think of her, much less speak of her. She'd rebuke you in disgust if she ever laid eyes on you again."

The grip on his neck tightened, reminding Laxus that he wasn't dealing with a whole man. His father was, if nothing else, truly certifiable. He was more than just a hard ass; he was insane. Playing with him wasn't a smart move at all. But he couldn't help it.

"I'd still have her," his father growled darkly. "If it wasn't for you."

"She was sick," Laxus retorted. "I-"

"You took all of her strength from her! She died because-"

"I was fucking four years old. I'm sorry that I needed damn attention now and again. Maybe if you were around more, she wouldn't have had to-"

"I was building a life for us!"

"And she was dying! But did you care? No. You were never there. You- Gah!"

His grip was absolute then. " _I should have never had you_."

"I never asked to be born. And you think I liked my life any in the beginning? You abandoned me after Mom died. Then you came back only to-"

Ivan threw him away from him then, but it wasn't forwards. It was off to the side, through an open doorway. Laxus, his balance being somewhat off kilter due to his bonds, stumbled slightly.

"Laxus!"

He'd regained his equilibrium then, but still found himself falling down to his knees, by choice rather than necessity.

"You're here," he whispered as Haven, who had been seated at the desk in the room, came rushing over to him. "Kid."

She was grinning too, but it wasn't enough to hide the fear in her blue eyes. Or the bruises on her body.

"Why are you crying, Laxus?" Haven sounded disappointed. But he didn't care. After seeing…her body before…even if it was only an illusion, he'd hold that with him forever. It made him sick. "What's wrong with you?"

They were practically the same height then, with him down on his knees, as Haven only reached up to rub at his eyes.

"I love you, kid," he sobbed as she only frowned.

"Laxus?"

"There," Ivan said stiffly as he came into the room. "You've seen her."

"Grandpa's gonna give me a lacrima," Haven told her father then, hoping to cheer him up. "And I'm gonna be just like you! But…Grandpa's kinda lonely, so I'mma have to come visit him some-"

"I'm not lonely, you brat!" Apparently, they'd had that argument before, as Ivan was enraged by her words almost immediately. Raising a hand, a row off white paper dolls flew forward, towards the little girl. Right before they hit her though, an arm shot out, blocking the attack.

"H-How-" Ivan stuttered as Laxus' bonds fell with a clatter to the ground.

"You really think that you can chain a damn dragon?" Laxus had his head down still, one arm outstretched as Haven moved closer to him, hiding her face in his chest. His coat had finally fallen off, lying in a heap behind him. "Or that I would just let you kill me? Not ever knowing for sure if my girls were safe? Bull."

"But you-"

"The moment you put them on me, I knew that I could break them, no sweat. Child's play." Laxus moved to stand then, after pressing a kiss against Haven's head. "That was your third mistake."

"Wha-"

"Your second," he began once he was on his feet one more, "was when you had that illusion call me daddy. Haven has never called me that. Only if she wanted something. If she was hurt, she'd call me by my name. Not daddy. She hates that word.

"Because it's gross," the little girl said, making a face.

"Then-"

"Sure, I teared up. I never want to see that again. Any normal parent would have. But I needed you to lead me to Haven for real, no games, so I played along. Her scent is all over this place. It would have taken too long to trail her." He patted Haven on the head once before gently pushing her behind him. "You ready for your first?"

"I-"

"For ever thinking that I'd let you get the fuck away with this." And just like that, all that pent up rage was put to good use. He'd been so…incensed that entire time that he just…he… "I don't think I've ever been more shamed by you."

"Laxus, no!" Haven was quick to wrap her arms around his legs as his arms were wrapped by bolts of electricity. "Leave him alone."

"Haven," he whispered darkly. "Go stand over there. I'll be done soon."

"I said no!" She let him go then to run over to her grandfather. Ivan seemed just as shocked by this, staring down at her in astonishment. She only stood in front of him though, glaring at her father. "Leave him alone."

"Haven-"

"He's just lonely! And he's gonna give me my lacrima. And he…he…he hits a lot, but… You can't hurt him."

"You don't get it, kid!" Laxus' gaze was so dark that he couldn't even look at his daughter. "He kidnapped you to-"

"To train me. And he said-"

"He fucking lied to you, Haven. He's not training you."

"Yes, he is! We sparred and he… He's a lot tougher than you are, but he-"

"Do you know why he wants me, Haven? Wants you?"

She glanced up at Ivan who seemed more interested in watching them for once than speaking. She honestly was shocked that none of his little helpers had come in yet. They usually always did when things got too loud. Maybe he'd called them off.

"Because you have his lacrima and he wants it back. And you should give it to him, Laxus! If he was nice enough to give it to you, then…then… He's your dad! And he loves you. Is being a stupid slayer really that-"

"The only way to get a lacrima out of someone, Haven, is to cut them open. Did he tell you that? Huh? That I would die if he got it back? That he tried when I was a kid to take it back out of me? That he's been trying ever since? Huh?  _Huh?"_

That time, when she glanced up at her grandfather, it was in shock. "Is that really-"

"Who are you going to believe, child? The man who won't even let you have a lacrima? Or the one who, not even truly knowing you, saved one, just for you? That wasn't you to rise to your potential and-"

"Why would you ever hurt Laxus?" She turned then, with her back to her father, so that she could stare at Ivan. "He's Master! You can't hurt the Master! It's part of the rules. You do what he says. He wouldn't lie about something like that, Grandpa. He-"

"He," Laxus growled, as, with her slowly backing further away, he finally had the opening he needed, " _is not your grandfather!"_

The lighting that struck Ivan then was so bright that it scared Haven, causing her to fall back on her butt with a gasp. Laxus only stood behind her though, watching as his father ate the attack with ease.

"I need you to get away, kid," Laxus said then, voice still low. "He ain't our family."

"Yes, he is! He-"

"Haven," Laxus growled. "I-"

"You told me that your dad was a bad person, that he hated you, that he only hurt people, and that he-"

"He just kidnapped you and your little sister. Not to mention Gajeel's brat. What more do you-"

"He's still your dad! Mom always talks about how if she had a chance to even see hers again, she'd… And you're going to hurt yours? That's not right!"

"My father's dead, Have," he told her as she scrambled to her feet once more. "And he died a long time before I was born. All that man right there wants is power. But he isn't smart enough or strong enough to get it himself. So he manipulates the people around him. That's what he does. And you might hate me for this, I don't care. I hated Gramps for it too. But I am never letting him around you again. That's just the way it's going to be. Resent me. I don't care. Your wellbeing is far more important."

Ivan, who'd been forced back some by his son's attack, grinned as his footing held, keeping him upright. His arms, which he'd crossed in front of himself to shield the blast, fell some as he began to clap.

"Well done, Laxus. The family man. I'm-"

"Shut the fuck up!" He shot another, low level strike at him. It was too dangerous for him to try anything major with Haven right there. He wouldn't let himself lose control yet. Not with her there. To have her see him kill a man…

No. He would never appear as a monster before his daughter. No way.

"Laxus!" Haven was turning towards him then, moving to hit him in the side. "Leave him alone!"

"Listen to your daughter now, son," Ivan said. "It's your own fault that we got this far."

"My damn fault? Fuck you."

"Stop it!" Haven kept beating against him to, her fist balled up. She was crying too. "Stop! We can just go home. Please, Laxus, I wanna go home!"

Laxus was still just watching Ivan. He knew what the man was dong. Making himself appear sympathetic towards Haven. He wasn't going to attack Laxus. No. He was playing the victim.

But why?

He'd said something about another lacrima. About putting it in Haven. No doubt to harvest later, when her powers grew.

He could almost feel it. All of it. Bubbling under the surface. He was going to use her, just like he'd used him. Tell her that the world was against him, that it just didn't understand him. But she would understand, right? And help him? Help him achieve his- no, their goal? They would be so powerful together.

Together.

Bile crept up Laxus throat again at the thought.

Shoving Haven from him perhaps a tad harder than he should have, Laxus quickly advanced on his father. The older man easily dodged the first flying fist, but got caught on an uppercut from the other. Laxus, though having used up a lot of strength and magic in the past few hours, felt renewed then. He had Haven. She was safe.

Finally.

Now he just had to finish up with his father and get to Marin. His poor little baby. He had his doubts of her being able to hold it together as well as her big sister.

Some of Ivan's dolls swarmed the room then as he tried to fight Laxus back and he could hear Haven yelling, but that blind rage was seeping through finally.

"How," he growled, "fucking dare you touch them!"

He hardly even needed magic. His father was, after all, getting up there in years. Not to mention, Laxus had long since surpassed him in not only magical abilities, but also just his brute strength. Laxus had never liked relying on one or the other. Even being a guild master didn't stop his intense workouts.

No way he was gonna let one of the other grunts running around surpass him. He was the Thunder God! As far as he was concerned, he was greater than all the wizard saints combined. He was a god in his own damn right. And he treated his body as such.

Not to mention, the demon liked a well chiseled man.

When Ivan hit the ground, Laxus didn't think he'd be getting up any time soon. Still though, he only moved to press his foot against the man's neck, forcing down with all his might.

"I could kill you," Laxus told him, the cadence of his voice at its lowest. "I should kill you. I want to. If the kid wasn't here, I'd rip you open and show you how it feels. Break your damn heart. Smash your head into pieces. So you feel what I feel every fucking day.

"I didn't kill my mother. You did. You made her feel alone. You made her give up. You were never worthy of her in the first place! You're filth. And to rid the world of you would be a justice.

"But, see I got this thing, Ivan, about not being evil in front of my kids. So you win this one, fine. For now. But my wife? The she-devil? She ain't too happy with you right now. And neither is Black Steel. And Natsu, he'll just about take on anything. We're fucking Fairy Tail like you've never seen. And if you dare gone after any of the brats again, why, I don't think could stop them from hurtin' ya if I wanted. Which, by the way, I don't. So goodbye, Dad. And you better hope it's forever. Or else the next time, I'll make sure that it is."

Laxus dropped down then, the foot on the man's neck slipping as he smashed his knee into his father's face. It made a sickening crunch that Laxus was glad to say, even with all his bloodlust, he took no pleasure in.

Haven wasn't crying anymore. That's the first thing Laxus noticed. Turning away from the man, he saw her just standing there, tears still rolling down her cheek, as she stared at her father.

"He's not dead," Laxus told her simply before going to pick up his coat and toss it over his shoulders. Then he held out a hand to her. "So come on. You said there's a lacrima here? I'll get it. Then we'll leave."

When Haven wouldn't take his hand, Laxus frowned.

"Have," he began, "I had to knock him out. We need to get away. He's not…like Gramps. He- Kid."

She'd only moved to wrap her arms tightly around his waist, closing her eyes tightly as she said, "I wanna go home, Laxus."

"We will," he whispered after a moment, taking a few seconds out to stroke her matching golden locks. "We are. Come on."

He took out any lackeys along the way as he searched the place. He found an office, finally, where Ivan had stashed the lacrima away in a safe. Breaking it open was no small feat, but at that point, Laxus was so over the day that he'd do anything to get through with it. He found a little bag to carry it in, slinging it over his shoulder carefully.

He wasn't sure yet what he'd be doing with the lacrima, but he knew it was better off in his care than his father's.

While in there though, he also find an old necklace sitting on the desk, which he took with him.

"What was that thing you took from the desk? When we got the lacrima?" Haven asked, speaking only once they were leaving the property, one of her hands clasped tightly in her father's.

Grunt. Then, because she'd already been through so much that day, he said, "It was my mother's."

"She died, huh?"

"Yeah, Have."

"I'm sorry."

Grunt. "She was…sick for a long time before. She'd been since I could remember."

"Grandpa said-"

"He's not your grandfather."

When she wouldn't speak again, Laxus sighed and glanced down at her.

"What was it, kid?"

"He said that I look like her."

Grunt.

"Was she-"

"Haven," he groaned. "I've been through hell these past few hours, huh? You have too. I know that you're just scared, that's why you're talking so much, right? 'cause if you keep talking, then you don't have to be quiet and reflect on it, huh? Well, it's okay to think about. Because it's over. And I'm here now. I won't ever let you-"

'You were crying."

"Huh?"

She glanced up at him then, the darkness all around them making it all the more surreal. "When you got me. You were crying."

"Yeah. I was."

"I didn't think…that you could do that."

"I can. I just don't."

"Except for me."

"Don't take pride in that."

She squeezed his hand. "Is Marin okay?"

"I…I dunno. I hope so. Your mother went after her."

"What about Locke? And Navi?"

"They're both fine," he said. "Locke wanted to come rescue you."

Her snort mimicked his own. He usually would have been proud.

At the moment though, he was only tired.

"He couldn't rescue crap."

"Sometimes, Haven, a leader knows to admit when they're defeated."

"I wasn't! I-"

"I can see that black eye you got there." That time, it was his grip that tightened. "He hurt you pretty bad, didn't he?"

"I was real tough."

"I know, kid."

"He just…he… Do you not love your daddy, Laxus?"

"I did," he told her softly. "For a very long time. So much so that I hated everyone else for being so…so  _right_ about him. Especially Gramps. He knew that Ivan was trash and tried to keep me from him. That hurt, you know? But then I saw it. I got it."

"What?"

"Ivan didn't want me. He never has. He's just pure evil, Haven. And I'm not saying he was always that way or that something didn't cause him to become so hard, but that doesn't excuse it. At all." Shaking his head, Laxus said, "The second he took you girls from me, any love I might have been able to muster up for him disappeared. You, your sister, and Mirajane? You're the only ones that matter."

"And Aunt Lissy, huh? And Elf?"

"And Ever and Bickslow and Freed," Laxus agreed. "And everyone else."

Kicking at the ground as they walked along, Haven said, "I feel bad."

"That's okay. Sometimes, even after you win, you don't come out feel good about it. Feeling happy. Sometimes being the victor isn't the important thing."

"What is?"

"Doing the right thing. The right thing is bittersweet sometimes. But that doesn't make it any less right. You think that an executioner likes to swing his ax? No. But he does it because someone has to. And if you're gonna be a mage, Haven, sometimes you have to do things that you won't like. Hurt people. Hurt things. But so long as what you're doing something you believe in, something that you know deep down in your heart is a good thing, then you're okay."

Still though, her stomach was knotted up and she felt…guilty.

Not just about her grandpa though. That was still bothering her, sure, but…

It was her fault that the other kids all got hurt. That Marin was…

She'd been the one to go against what Laxus said and go to the park. That meant that it was due to her that they'd been there for Ivan to catch. She figured, fine, that Ivan was probably going to get them one way or another, but still.

"Hey, Laxus?"

"Hmmm?"

Glancing up at him, she said, "I love you."

He didn't think he still could after the day he'd had, but a chuckle found it's way out of his mouth then as he grinned.

"I love you too, kid," he told her softly. "More than you'll ever know."


	10. Chapter 10

"-gettin' real close now," Gajeel grumbled as he stood in the clearing, arms crossed. The children were sitting over by Wendy and the Exceeds, Locke dozing off while little Marin kept whining about wanting her father. Mira had tried a few times in the past few hours to calm her down, but nothing worked.

"Just give her space," Freed had suggested, though he himself was pretty high-stung then, pacing most of the time. "I'm sure she'll come around."

"That definitely Laxus scent," Wendy told Mirajane. "And I can smell Haven too."

Natsu had passed out already from hunger, and wasn't much help to anyone. Mirajane had taken to moving around the clearing, clearly jittery. Hours had passed slowly and, though she wanted to go after Laxus, the trail was cold by that point and, besides, he had told them to wait.

They'd almost been doing so for a day at that point.

Just like that though, Gajeel and Wendy had picked up on the sound of someone walking through the forest and, apparently, it was her husband and daughter.

Mira had to restrain herself from running to greet them.

The second they were close enough though that she could see them through the dense forest all around, the lightening sky helping somewhat, she rushed to do just that.

"Haven!" Ignoring her husband, her immediate focus went to her daughter, who she was dismayed to find was sporting quite a few bruises. Mirajane didn't even care about her dress then as she squatted down in the grass so that she could get a better look at her daughter.

Haven complained, of course, because Mirajane was just so embarrassing. She wouldn't admit it though, but it kinda felt nice to be fretted over.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Haven said as Mirajane just kept hugging her and kissing her. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Mira pressed a kiss to both the child's cheeks. "I was so worried about you."

Laxus just continued on into the clearing. Almost immediately, Freed was in his face, but he only shoved the guy off, his eyes focused in on his youngest child. She was leaning up against Wendy, but at the sight of her father, the six year old jumped up.

"Hey, kid." He came to stand in front of her. "You- Oh, Marin. Why are you crying, huh? It's over."

She couldn't help it though. She was tired and hungry and missed her stuffed animals. Most of all though, she'd wanted her daddy the whole time and then, suddenly, he was there and it was just all too much.

"I wan' my daddy!" She held her arms out to him, eyes skewed shut. At the sound of her cries, Natsu jumped up, ready for action.

"Where are they? Huh? Tryin' to sneak up on me? No way! I'm all fired-"

"Gajeel," Wendy complained when, annoyed by the Salamander's talking, the other slayer walked passed him and knocked him in the head.

Laxus held down a groan as he moved to lift his youngest daughter into his arms, her immediately taking to wrapping her arms around his neck, hiding her tears against him.

"It's okay," he whispered as he held her close. "I'm here now. It's over, Marin."

"Go home now?"

"We will, baby."

Mira was coming back into the clearing then, with Haven. Locke, who had woken up at the sound of the younger child crying, turned his attention then to his friend. Haven wouldn't look at him though as he rushed over.

"You're okay!" Locke was quick to do that annoying then where he patted her on the head. They'd slowly begun to even out in height, which made it even more annoying. She shoved his hand away.

"Yeah, duh."

"I got worried," he told her simply. "I took care of Marin for you."

"Thanks," she grumbled as Mirajane only giggled.

"Be nice, Haven. Locke went through a lot, just to come rescue you."

"He didn't rescue me."

"I tried to," he insisted. "I even got into a fight! I beat up-"

"You did not."

"I did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"I said," Haven growled before moving to shove him. "You didn't!"

"And I said that I did!"

"Okay, okay," Gajeel grumbled. "Now all the damn kids are here. What's next? You get your old man? Or is there more?"

Laxus was only paying attention to Marin though, setting her down once more so that he could look her over for any wounds. When he was content with that, he patted her on the head, the sniffling little girl still trying to stop her tears.

"You know what I got for you, kid?" He turned from her then, to walk over to where the bag of medical supplies was sitting. Fearful of being even an inch away from her father, the little girl followed.

"What?"

"Here." From his bag, he pulled her little pink knit hat, quickly going to place it on her head once more. "Better?"

Marin stared at him, her face finally looking somewhat joyful. "Yes."

"Good. I-"

The little girl let out a cry then, rushing to hug his legs, hiding her face.

"What?" Laxus glanced at his wife, who'd appeared at his side. She only stared down at their daughter with a slight sigh. "What's wrong?"

"She saw me as Satan Soul," Mirajane told him softly as Gajeel finally had to go over and separate his son and Haven. "Now she thinks that I'm-"

"You didn't know your mother was a demon, kid?' Laxus patted Marin on the head, making her glance up at him. "That right there? She's the strongest wizard around. She's got demons in her, yeah, but that doesn't mean she's not Mommy."

"No."

'Marin," Laxus sighed. He was starting to feel a little light headed. "You think I don't know who Mira is? Huh?"

"It's okay, Laxus," his wife sighed, shaking her head. "Right now, we just need to get home."

"We're closer to some other towns than we are Magnolia, of course," Wendy spoke up, ever the helpful one. "We could head to one and take a train-"

"No trains," all the other slayers said quickly.

She only giggled.

"I could cure your motion sickness."

"I'm immune to it again, remember?" Natsu complained. "You guys can take a train, but me and Hap are gonna walk back."

"Speak for yourself," Happy complained. "I just wanna get somewhere with some food."

"Freed, Wendy, Carla," Laxus said then, glancing at them. "Go find a town and a train. Ride ahead, tell the others that we're alright. Happy, you can go too, if you want. And the kids-"

"No," Locke complained as Haven only stuck her tongue out at her father. "We wanna walk back too. Like you guys."

"Yeah," Haven agreed, crossing her arms. "Laxus."

"Why?"

"I just do. If you don't ride the train, then I don't wanna."

"Haven-"

"Laxus," Mirajane whispered, staring up at him. "They just got taken and are finally back with their parents. I really think the last thing they want is to be separated again."

"No," Haven retorted, overhearing what her mother said. "That's not true! I just…I don't wanna ride the train."

"Me neither," Locke said.

"It's okay to be scared," Lily told them. "It's only-"

"We're not!"

"I don't get scared!"

"Alright, just shut up." Laxus still had one hand reaching down, resting on Marin's head. Honestly, he didn't want his girls going somewhere without him anyhow. "Wendy, you and Freed go-"

"Laxus, not to defy you," Freed spoke up. "But I would rather stay with you. I-"

"And I want someone to go with Wendy," he said gruffly. "And you're the odd person out. Besides, you can calm Ever and Bickslow and them down when you get there, huh? We won't be much further behind you."

"If it is your will," Freed gave in.

"Yeah," Laxus told him. "It is."

They walked with Wendy and Freed to the nearest town, as it would be easier for them to find their own way from there than in the forest. Along the way, they stopped off to get something to eat, if only for the children's sake. And to shut Natsu and his damn cat the hell up.

"So what exactly happened between Lily and Gajeel?" Mirajane asked Freed before he departed for the train station.

"Hmmm?"

"When I got back with Marin, they seemed to be upset with one another. They still are. Did something happen?"

Freed sighed. "Gajeel was trying to teach his son a lesson, yes? For being disrespectful or something. But that woman was too powerful for the boy and Lily stepped in to help him out, which Gajeel wasn't going to do until the boy asked him to. Honestly, they're just to big egos arguing over something simple."

Mirajane giggled. "Locke sure seems proud of himself."

"Another ego in the making."

After the others departed, Happy gave up on being strong (Carla wasn't around to impress any longer) and took to resting atop Natsu's head for the majority of the trip. Marin kept close to Laxus, hand clasped tightly in his, though randomly she was glance over at her mother, as if intrigued. Mira would only smile at her, knowing that eventually that would be enough to gain the child's trust again.

Locke and Haven formed some sort of a truce after awhile, no longer arguing as they walked along. And Gajeel and Lily were able to make friends again, both pondering what sort of punishment they would be getting from Levy when they got home.

Mira though kept glancing at her husband. She could tell from the way that he was walking that something was wrong. She figured he'd overexerted himself and, possibly, even gotten hurt while he was off by himself, rescuing Haven.

"Are you okay?" she asked him softly at one point, to which he only nodded. "Do you need to rest?"

"I'm not a kid, Mira."

"I know. I just-"

"So what's in that bag of yours?" Natsu asked eventually, glancing over at his master. "That you brought back from your dad's?"

Laxus grunted. "A lacrima."

"What sorta-"

"Dragon-"

"Seriously?" Locke, who was mostly tired of walking and bored at that point, looked over at the man in awe. "What are you gonna do with it?"

"I dunno."

"Well, I know!" Natsu fist pumped. "Me and Hap vote that we give it to Navi!"

"Aye, sir!"

"No," Laxus grumbled. "Definitely-"

"I'll pay ya for it," Gajeel said quickly. "How much you want?"

"If I won't give it to him-"

"I don't want the brat to have it," Gajeel growled. "I want it for me!"

Haven snickered. "Your dad wouldn't even give you a lacrima if he had one, Locke."

The boy only sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"He is only joking, Locke, of course," Lily told the boy. "Aren't you, Gajeel? Gajeel?"

He was still staring at Laxus. "If you don't want it, I do. So why are you-"

" _I said_ ," Laxus growled then, " _that I don't know_."

Haven kept giggling. "I'mma be a slayer now, Locke and-"

"He didn't say he was giving it to you."

"Of course he is."

Mira kept staring Laxus. "Was that what he was going to do? Put one in Haven?"

"Yeah. And take mine back."

Reaching out, she laid a hand on his arm. "I'm glad you stopped it."

"Huh?" Haven frowned over at her mother. "Why? Why can't I be-"

"There's a lot of things to consider, Haven," Laxus told her gruffly.

"Like what? You always do this! You never let me have anything!"

"I think," Lily mumbled to Gajeel, "that the problem is they actually do."

"What is there to consider though?" Natsu was still clueless. "I'd let Navi have it like that. If she wanted it. We could be the best team ever!"

"I thought you, Happy, and Lucy were the best team ever?" Mira asked.

"I'd replace Luce in a flash for Navi. Duh."

Happy snickered. "But not me, huh, Natsu?"

"Well… Maybe get rid of you and  _then_ put Navi on the team."

"Huh?"

"Think about it! Father, mother, daughter. We'd be great!"

"Uh, no, never mind," Happy complained. "Navi can't have the lacrima."

"I'm just kiddin', little buddy."

"No! It's too late."

Natsu only laugh. "Ha! Me and Navi are gonna be unstoppable."

"I think you're forgetting, flame breath," Gajeel grumbled, "that you aren't the one with the lacrima."

"Oh yeah." He glared over at Laxus. "I'll fight you for it!"

"Everyone shut the hell up," Laxus grumbled, clinching his fists. "I- Oh, Marin."

She'd jerked her hand from his, whining loudly as he forgot that he'd been holding it. He'd hurt her.

"Come here." Mira, as if on impulse, went to comfort the little girl. Laxus had quite the grip, after all. "Let Mommy see."

And it hurt so bad that, for a moment, Marin forgot that she was fearful and suspicious of the woman and held out her injured hand to her. Mira came to a stop and leaned down to look at it.

"There," she said, pressing a kiss to the hand as Marin's eyes welled up with tears. "All better?"

Sniffling, Marin nodded before moving to grasp her mother's hand and start walking again. Laxus glanced back at them, but Mira only shook her head. She'd told him just to give it time.

It took so long to get back to Magnolia that they even stopped and got something to eat again along the way (the Salamander was a bottomless pit) and, eventually, the kids started to get tired. Mirajane took to carrying Marin in her arms while Laxus, after handing the pack off to his wife, let Haven ride on his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

Gajeel offered Locke once or twice to carry him, like he had before, up on his shoulders, but there was no way that the boy was going to show weakness in front of the girls. No way.

"I'm real glad that Navi didn't get taken," Natsu said forlornly to Happy eventually. "But I sure miss her right now. I'd let her ride on my shoulders. And we could talk and have tons of fun. I feel like she missed out on somethin'."

"Aye."

Yet another dusk was approaching when they finally got to the outskirts of Magnolia. Marin was asleep in her mother's arms and Haven was pretty close to it herself, Laxus having to hold into her legs, just in case her grip around his neck slipped.

Locke, he was a sport, Laxus would give him that, had kept up with the adults great the whole time. But his hand did eventually find it's way into Gajeel's as he trudged along. His father only grunted as Lily snickered.

They all felt about dead when they walked into the guildhall. Everyone inside though? Not so much.

"Locke!" Levy ran to grab her son first as Gajeel, after letting go of his hand, tried to slyly escape, rushing over to the bar to get a drink. He knew that he'd need it if he was going to deal with his wife. "Are you okay?"

"I'm thirsty," he told his mother simply as she hugged and kissed him. "And tired."

Mira was just as quickly surrounded by her siblings and the Thunder Legion.

"Kid!" Bickslow exclaimed, moving to pat Marin on the head. "You know how worried we were about you?"

"Kid," his dolls mimicked as Marin blinked sleepily at them, giggling slightly.

Elfman was just as tearful as ever. "You're such a man, Marin! Gettin' back home and all. I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you," she giggled as her mother grinned. "Elf."

"Mmmm." Ever came to kiss her head too. "You know that me and your uncle would have come for you if we could have, right?"

"Us too," Bickslow was quick to say. And Lisanna was just moving to hug her sister then, tearing up too.

"We were so scared," she said. "And-"

"They're fine." Mira went to set Marin down then, though Elfman was just as quick to lift her up.

"Elf," she complained as he took to snuggling her.

"You're hurting her," Ever complained, batting at her boyfriend's arm.

"I'm loving her!"

"Well, she don't want you," Bickslow complained. "She wants me and Lissy. So go away."

"Go away," the babies agreed.

"Behave, Bickslow," Lisanna sighed as Mirajane only giggled.

"You see, Marin?" Reaching out, she patted her on the head. "Everyone just loves you so much."

"So much," the babies insisted.

Bickslow was still glaring at Elfman. "Okay, you had your turn. Let me-"

"No!"

"Where's Haven?" Lisanna asked, glancing around then. Her eyes fell for a moment to where Natsu was going over to Navi and Lucy, Happy just as excitedly going to greet them.

"I dunno," Mira said, glancing around. "She and Laxus were just here. Maybe they went off somewhere?"

"She's okay, isn't she?"

"A little beat up," Mira sighed, making the others glance at her.

"What happened?" Elfman sat Marin down then, so he could flex. Bickslow, using this to his advantage, moved to bend down and hug the little girl finally, his dolls circling around her.

"Your cousin sure missed you," he said, speaking of his two year old son. "And so did I."

Marin only grinned. She loved her cousin. "Is he here?"

"Nah. He's at home with a babysitter, but I'm sure you'll see him later, huh?"

"I'll kill anyone who hurt Haven," Elfman was proclaiming loudly then.

"I don't really know what happened," Mira admitted. "Laxus went off to get her on his own and face his father. I… Something seems wrong with him though."

Lisanna glanced once more over at Natsu when she heard Navi start crying.

"What's wrong?" He had taken to sitting down next to her and Lucy, but the seven year old only shook her head. "What is it?"

"Navi's felt bad this whole time," Lucy told him. "Because she thought that it was her fault that the others got taken. Because she wasn't-"

"Ain't nothing you could have done," Natsu told her.

"We're just glad that you're safe," Happy agreed as he stood on the table. "Aren't we, Natsu?"

"Most definitely," he said, grinning toothily down at her. "And I told you, Nav, that I'd get your friends back. And look! I did. So don't cry anymore, okay?"

Then, just to make her feel better, he unwound his scarf before laying it over her shoulders. Navi held part of it up to her nose, taking a deep sniff. She loved the smell of a bonfire it always had. Just like her daddy.

Leaning down, he rested his forehead against hers. "No one blames you for nothing, Nav. Promise. And if they do, well, they can just get over it!"

She giggled as Lucy only smiled. And when Natsu lifted his head, he moved to kiss his wife.

"Was it real bad?" she asked. "The kids?"

"Nah. I hardly got to do anything," he complained. "Mirajane went all demon like and took everyone out before I could even get to them. Worst adventure ever."

"Considering all the kids got back okay, Natsu, I think it's the best one."

"Aye," Happy agreed as he only took to pouting. Navi moved to lean against him though, taking in her father's down mood.

"You were the hero again, huh?" she asked, glancing up at him.

"Not really."

"I bet you were," she said, giggling. "You always are."

Patting her on the head, he said, "Saw all the other kids gettin' to hangout with their parents and I missed you. Maybe me and you can go on an adventure real soon."

"I don't-" Lucy tried, but was cut off by Happy.

"Aye, sir," he called out happily. "We've already decided, Navi, that you're going to replace Lucy."

"You what?" the celestial mage asked, frowning.

"Well, either Happy or Mommy," Natsu said slowly. "I couldn't decide."

"I could," Happy grumbled.

"Yeah, and so could I, stupid cat."

Navi giggled, cuddling closer to Natsu. And as much fun as it was for him to be out doing things, there was probably no better feeling than being home.

Freed though, about then, was most concerned with where his idol had run off to.

"I'll find him," Mira sighed as the letter mage kept questioning where he'd disappeared. "I'm sure he went off with Haven somewhere to talk. Are you going to be okay, Marin?"

Oh, Marin was more than okay. She loved her aunts and uncles and, well, they sure were showering her with their love by that time.

At the moment though, Laxus and Haven didn't want to be found. Not really.

"There you go," he sighed after climbing the stairs and heading up to the infirmary, where he dropped his older daughter off on one of the cots. She only sat there though, watching as he just as quickly went over to one of the cabinets.

"What are you doin', Laxus?"

After taking off his coat, Laxus tugged his shirt over his head, allowing Haven to be welcomed to the sight of lacerations on her father's back.

"Cleaning up my wounds."

"How-"

"They aren't much," he sighed. "You know how many people I fought to get you back? Some of 'em were bound to get a few good licks in."

Haven frowned, watching as her father got some gauze and bottles of stuff out. "You got hurt?"

"Yeah, Have, I got hurt."

"I'm sorry." Then, looking at the ground, she kicked her feet back and forth as she whispered, "It's my fault, huh?"

For a moment, Laxus didn't answer. Then, with a sigh, he said, "I told you not to go."

"I know."

"You're one of the older ones, you and Locke. Navi and Marin, they look up to you guys. They do what you two tell them too. You wanna be a leader, Haven? Then you gotta stop thinking only about yourself."

She wouldn't raise her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I know. And it's okay this time, but eventually, saying sorry might not be enough," he said. "Your sister ain't strong, Haven. And you're getting there, but-"

"It's not my fault! It was grandpa's."

"He's not-"

"But he is."

"Haven," he sighed. "I haven't slept in forever and a day. I'm not in the mood to argue, alright? You were wrong. You know you were wrong. If I tell you to do something, you do it. I'm starting to get tired of you always testing me. That's not something that can go on. Not when you're risking not only your life, but the lives of other people's kids. You hear me?"

When she wouldn't answer, he only sighed before going over to her. Reaching out, he pushed her head up so that they could look at one another.

"One day," he said slowly, "you're going to be the strongest mage ever. You're going to surpass me. I'll make sure of it. I won't make it easy on you, but I won't die until that moment. But you're not there yet. You're still a kid."

"When you were-"

"I don't count, Haven. I was a little butt when I was a kid. Gramps was too busy to reign me in and my old man didn't care. But I do. About you. And you're not going to be wild, running off on jobs and shit before you're ready." Staring down at her, he said, "I'm never gonna lose you girls. I'm just not."

She looked off then and he sighed, giving it a moment or two to let that sink in. Then, when he spoke again, he was handing her the gauze.

"Help wrap me up, huh?"

"If I have to."

He shook his head at her uninterested. "When you were a little kid, I couldn't get you to stop bandaging me up. Your mom though that you were gonna be a medic or something."

"Gross."

Taking a moment out to stare at her, he felt something in his chest, if only for a moment.

She was so old. Too old.

"You didn't used to think that," he grunted after a moment.

"Yeah, well I do now."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess you do."

They were still working on his bandages too when they heard someone coming into the infirmary.

"What are you guys- Laxus! I knew it. You are hurt."

He only grunted as by that point, Haven was getting him all wrapped up, so Mira couldn't see anything.

"I see you've replaced me though," she said as she only came closer. "You taking good care of your dad, Haven?"

Grunt.

Mira gave her a look. "You are not allowed to start doing that too."

Grunt.

"Well, anyhow," the woman sighed as she went to set the pack on her shoulders on one of the beds. "Here's the lacrima. What are we going to do with it exactly? Take it home with us? Or hide it here?"

Laxus glanced over his shoulder at he little girl behind him, who was still wrapping gauze around his body. "Well?"

"Huh?" Haven looked up at him with a frown. "What?"

"What are we gonna do with it, kid?" he asked.

"You're letting me decide?"

Laxus glanced at Mirajane and, after she gave a slight nod, he said, "Might as well hear your opinion. You've wanted to be a slayer since you were a baby. Be like me. And this might be your only chance. I won't hold you back. It'll only make you stronger."

Stronger…

Finished with the gauze then, Haven didn't speak as she got it all secure on his back. Once that was done, Laxus turned to face her.

"Well, kid?"

"When you were sick, you got one, huh? And got better?"

"Yeah," he said. "And you're so healthy, kid, you'll be amazing. You-"

"I don't want it."

Mira blinked. "What? Haven-"

"I don't want it." Jumping off the cot, she handed her father the gauze before kicking at the ground. "So… So don't give it to me."

"Why not, kid? I thought you wanted to surpass Locke and Navi and-"

"I can do that on my own," she told him, lifting her eyes then, if only for a moment as she said, "I want you to give it to Marin."

For a second, Laxus breath caught. "M-Marin? But, Haven-"

"I said to give it to Marin, okay? Just leave me alone." She took off then, out of the room. "I wanna go see everyone and tell them about how great I was up against all those people. And get stupid Locke to stop talkin' about fighting that woman."

Her parents just watched her run off, neither speaking for a moment. Then, slowly, Mirajane laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you think-"

"I dunno," he whispered, shaking his head. "I'm… Was that a joke?"

"Of all the things I've dealt with these past few days, honestly, I think that was the only one I still don't understand."

Turning to fully look at his wife, he moved to press a kiss against her head. He was so tired and, honestly, just wanted to get home, to his own bed, knowing that his girls were safe as the demon slept next to him.

Nothing would make much sense until that happened.

"What's there to understand?" he mumbled to Mirajane then. "When you're a leader, you make sacrifices for those under you."

"I guess so."

"I still need to think about this though," he told her, going to pull his shirt back on. "Right now though, I want to go home."

"Everyone downstairs is, like, worshiping the kids right now."

Grunt. Then, "I guess we gotta go back down there then."

"Guess so."

But neither moved. And, after a second, Mira found herself hugging the life out of Laxus.

"Our babies are safe."

"Yeah," he whispered. "They are."

Their moment didn't last long though, as with them being so quiet the sounds of the guildhall below easily drifted up. It sounded like Gajeel was being chewed out by Levy about how she'd told him in the past to keep a better eye on their son as Jet and Droy cheered her on, Lily's snickers being heard as well.

And, of course, the Salamander was causing some big commotion about something or other as well, his stupid cat's voice traveling easily as they talked loudly and excitedly about their adventure, no doubt recounting it to Lucy and whoever else would listen.

"I think we gotta go down there now," Mira sighed as he only held her tighter.

"Yeah."

"And tomorrow, we can talk to Marin, huh?"

Laxus nodded. "You know I ain't just shoving it down into her like Ivan did me. We're going to talk about it, just me and her, and see where we go from there."

Taking a step back from him, Mirajane said, "Hey, we still need to go over what happened with you and Ivan."

"When we get home," he said, going to pick up the pack and slinging it over his shoulders. "Before that though, we're going to talk about my sexy little demon going crazy."

"It wasn't that crazy."

"Mmmm. Bet it was."

"I just got…angry. They had my baby and were-"

"Shhhh." He kissed her head. "Save it. You know I get hot, hearing you all angry and shit."

"You're so stupid."

"Maybe," he agreed. "But what does that say about you being with me then?"

"That I have a high amount of empathy?" She stared up at him as he threw an arm over her shoulders. "And, hey, if it makes you really hot, maybe we can talk more about that third baby I want."

"And you ruined it. You always ruin it."

"I'm going to get that next baby out of you eventually, Dreyar."

"I dare you to try."


End file.
